Zelenskyy calls for 50% increase in weapons production with partners
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine must increase the volume of joint weapons production projects with its partners by at least 50% domestically.
Source: Zelenskyy at the 28th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein format), as reported by Interfax-Ukraine
Quote: "We already have a strong partnership in weapons production in Ukraine, and several joint projects are already being implemented, but we need to increase their volume by at least 50%.
Ukrainian industry still has significant untapped potential. It simply needs funding."
Details: Zelenskyy said Ukraine can provide detailed calculations, adding that Ukrainian troops involved in operations like Pavutyna (Spider's Web) demonstrate that "our drones truly save lives and deliver real results".
"We have only 17 billion [the president did not specify the currency – ed.] from our national budget for purchasing weapons for our 35-billion defence industry," Zelenskyy stressed. "The funding shortfall is 18 billion."
The president urged participants of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group to remain fully committed to developing new defence assistance packages for Ukraine.
Background: Ukraine can cover up to 40% of its weapons needs through domestic production, but stable funding is required to achieve this.
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