(Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine would present a strategy for “guided”, or managed, arms exports within the next two weeks and saw the United States, Europe and other countries as potential buyers.
Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said a programme of exports would enable Ukraine to boost production of and provide financing for the drones it needed for the front line in the more than three-and-a-half-year war with Russia.
He said a military staff meeting devoted largely to weapons production discussed targets for the military’s needs as well as “adequate financing for domestic weapons production and joint production with partners”.
“Any funding shortfall will be covered, starting this year, in particular, through managed exports of certain Ukrainian arms,” he said.
“Managed exports will allow us to scale up drone production for the front … Our priorities are first, equipping our brigades at the front, second, building up Ukrainian arsenals and, third, managed exports.”
Within two weeks, he said, “the concept of three new export platforms will be presented – the first will be exports and mutual action with the United States, the second will be our European partners, and the third, other world partners with an interest in Ukrainian arms.”
Zelenskiy also said effective export controls would be put in place, “so that the Russians and their accomplices do not get access to Ukrainian technologies and our weapons”.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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