Ukraine looks to jointly produce weapons with international allies

Kyiv: Ukraine is forging ahead with embryonic plans for joint weapons production with some of its international allies, top officials said, while the US announced it was halting some arms shipments promised to help Ukraine fight off Russia.

Those plans come at what appears to be a key point in the all-out war launched by Moscow nearly 3½ years ago.

A renewed Russian push to capture more Ukrainian land has put Ukraine’s short-handed defences under severe strain, and Russian missiles and drones are battering Ukrainian cities. US-led diplomatic efforts to find a peace settlement, meanwhile, have stalled.

As Washington has distanced itself under US President Donald Trump from Ukraine’s war efforts, a bigger onus has fallen on European countries to pressure Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held their first direct telephone call in almost three years.

Macron’s office said that during their two-hour conversation, the French leader underlined France’s “unwavering

support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and called for a ceasefire.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that officials are preparing with a sense of urgency for upcoming meetings with European Union countries and other partners to talk about cooperation in weapons manufacturing.