Zelensky Pitches Arms Makers on Producing Weapons in Ukraine

Ukraine hosted representatives from more than 250 weapons firms as part of its first International Defense Industries Forum

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged arms makers to produce weapons inside Ukraine in a speech opening Ukraine’s first International Defense Industries Forum.

“Right now, for the next decades, the most powerful defense-industrial complexes are being determined, what their priorities will be, and what the standard of defense in the world will be. It is being determined precisely in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

According to Zelensky, the event was attended by representatives from 252 weapons firms from 30 countries. Helping build up Ukraine’s military industry is part of NATO’s plans to provide long-term support for Kyiv. After Zelensky recently visited Washington, he said he reached a deal on joint weapons production with the US.

“We have reached agreements on joint production – essentially the establishment of a new industrial ecosystem that will strengthen both Ukraine and the United States, and all our partners. This is one of the key outcomes of my negotiations with President Biden in Washington,” Zelensky said on Friday.

The Ukrainian leader said his country would establish a “special economic regime for the defense-industrial complex.” He said the purpose is to “give all the opportunities to realize their potential to every company that works for the sake of defense — in Ukraine and with Ukraine or that wants to come to Ukraine.”

Producing weapons in Ukraine could be a lucrative endeavor for Western arms makers, although the factories risk becoming targets for Russian missiles. A few days before Zelensky’s speech, a Ukrainian official told the Spanish news outlet ABC that an unspecified missile production facility was moved outside of Ukraine to keep it from being targeted by Russia.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.