KYIV — President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Ukraine’s Western partners to allocate 0.25% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to helping Kyiv ramp up weapons production and said the country plans to sign agreements this summer to start exporting weapon production technologies.
In remarks released for publication by his office on Saturday, Mr. Zelensky said Ukraine was in talks with Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Lithuania to launch joint weapon production.
“Ukraine is part of Europe’s security and we want 0.25% of the GDP of a particular partner country to be allocated for our defense industry and domestic production,” Mr. Zelensky said.
As the war with a bigger and better-equipped Russia has intensified in recent weeks, Ukraine’s need for new weapons and ammunition is constantly growing.
This year Kyiv had secured $43 billion to finance its domestic weapon production, Mr. Zelensky said.
Member nations of the NATO military alliance are expected to meet next week in The Hague, to discuss higher defense spending.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has proposed that countries should each agree to spend 5% of their GDP on defense and security measures.
Mr. Zelensky said he was likely to visit the NATO summit, adding that several meetings with Western leaders had been set up on the sidelines. He also said that he hoped to meet US President Donald J. Trump.
Last week, Mr. Zelensky attended the Group of Seven summit in Canada as he sought to discuss stronger sanctions against Russia and more military support for Ukraine with Mr. Trump there.
But he failed to meet with the US President as Mr. Trump left a day early for Washington to address the Israel-Iran conflict.
Ukraine currently covers about 40% of its defense needs with domestic production, and the government is constantly looking for ways to increase production further.
Kyiv plans to launch joint weapon production outside of the country and will start exporting some of its military production technologies, Mr. Zelensky said.
“We have launched a program ‘Build with Ukraine’ and in summer we will sign relevant agreements to start exporting our technologies abroad in the format of opening production lines in European countries,” Mr. Zelensky said.
The discussions focused on producing different types of drones, missiles, and potentially artillery, he said. — Reuters
