Kyiv launches mechanism allowing allies to buy Ukrainian weapons

KYIV - Ukraine on July 1 approved a state mechanism to export its weaponry, seeking to raise funds in a fifth year of fighting Russia, while saying its own defence needs will remain a priority.

Kyiv has this year offered its military experience fighting Russia to European and Middle Eastern countries, who are interested in Ukrainian drone and anti-drone technology.

“The government has approved the first transparent mechanism for exporting Ukrainian weapons,” Kyiv’s defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said, adding countries would “be able to purchase Ukrainian weapons and technologies and work directly with Ukrainian manufacturers”.

In June, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was working on defence agreements with around 20 countries.

Since the start of the war, Ukraine has relied on its Western allies to supply it with various weapons.

But it has also developed its own technologies, especially in the fields of drones and counter-drone systems.

According to Fedorov, the goal is to “attract international investment without losing the priority of supplying” Kyiv’s army.

“Exports are possible only if the Ukrainian military is guaranteed to be supplied. If the state needs certain weapons, permission may not be granted,” he said.

The war in Ukraine has dragged on for almost 4.5 years.

Ukraine has dispatched its drone experts to various Middle Eastern countries this year but had restricted the exports of its weapons during the war with Russia. AFP