By KYIV. Sept 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba is confident that the Defense Industries Forum, which will be held in autumn, will conclude specific agreements on increasing the production of weapons needed by Ukraine.
“We are working on it [the forum] together with the Ministry of Strategic Industry, the Ministry of Defense in order to bring together in one place everyone who wants to do joint production with Ukrainian ‘gunsmiths’ or their own production on the territory of Ukraine, and government representatives who are ready to help their companies we should really come out of this summit with concrete agreements on increasing the production of weapons necessary for Ukraine. This result will come,” Kuleba said on the telethon on Monday.
At the first stage, as the minister explained, Ukraine opened up “new positions” regarding weapons that need to be obtained from partners, and the next stage is to ensure that a system works that can provide a soldier at the front. In particular, this is about independence from the repair and maintenance of equipment.
“In order to create this system, we need to hold this forum,” Kuleba said.
On August 2, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the holding of the first Defense Industries Forum in Ukraine in the autumn of 2023.
Later, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said the purpose of the forum was to unite Ukrainian and foreign manufacturers for the long-term and systematic strengthening of Ukraine’s defense capability, the exchange of technologies, the establishment of joint production, system maintenance and repair of equipment, and the strengthening of the defense potential of both Ukraine and partners based on technologies and weapons.
The first Defense Industries Forum will become a platform where the world’s major arms manufacturers, together with the military-political leadership of Ukraine and partner countries, will work together to develop new alliances and strategies to support international security and launch joint projects.
On August 16, Kuleba, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin signed a joint letter to partner countries and foreign companies with an invitation to participate in the defense industries forum.
