The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's main goal next year is boosting domestic weapons production, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on December 15, highlighting Ukraine's efforts to produce more of its own weapons in the face of uncertainty over deliveries from Western allies.
“The focus of our team's work is the localization of weapons production in Ukraine, creating joint companies, engaging investments in the defense industry with our allies,” Umerov said on Facebook.
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Umerov noted that earlier this week he met with representatives of some of Britain’s largest defense manufacturers at a joint Ukrainian-British defense industry conference in Kyiv.
He said Ukraine is “interested in direct deals with British manufacturers,” urging them to use current conditions, including the ability to test samples in battle and receive quick feedback from the military, “for transparent and effective cooperation with Ukrainian manufacturers.”
Next year’s budget includes 255 billion hryvnyas ($6.8 billion) allocated to the Defense Ministry for "weapons, military equipment, and ammunition," he noted, saying that Ukraine plans not only to create and develop technologies, but also to scale them.
Ukrainian forces have largely depended on Western allies to provide arms and other aid for the battlefield thus far. But aid from the United States is close to running out, according to the White House, which in recent weeks has implored Republicans in the U.S. Congress to pass a proposal for an estimated $60 billion in aid to last Ukraine well into 2024.
U.S. lawmakers began leaving Washington on December 14 without reaching a deal on the package.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who visited Washington earlier this week to encourage lawmakers to pass the legislation, said that, without the help of allies, Ukraine will have to fight Russia on its own as it did at the beginning of the invasion in 2022.
Zelenskiy also has said Ukraine does not want to rely solely on military aid from allies and aims to become a donor of security for its neighbors in the future.
To further that goal, Ukraine hosted an international defense industry forum in September that drew more than 250 Western weapons producers, and last week a joint Ukraine-U.S. defense conference was held in Washington.
Ukraine previously reached an agreement with two American firms to jointly manufacture 155-millimeter artillery shells and in October set up a joint defense venture with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall to service and repair Western weapons.