Ukraine and the European Union have signed a cooperation agreement on unmanned technologies, which aims to combine Ukrainian battlefield experience with the production and technological capacity of the European defence industry. This was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Kiev, BTA reports.
“We must join forces“, said Von der Leyen, stressing that the agreement will combine “Ukrainian ingenuity“ with “European industrial scale“. According to her, the knowledge accumulated by Ukraine on the use of drones and countermeasures against them is a unique resource that can be used to strengthen European security.
The new agreement is the first of its kind that covers not individual countries, but the entire European Union and its industrial base. So far, Ukraine has concluded a number of bilateral agreements with individual partners. After the NATO summit in Ankara, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the country already has nine such agreements.
Ukraine has become one of the leading countries in the development and use of drones in military conditions after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. At the beginning of the war, the country had limited experience in this area, but the need to adapt to new battlefield conditions led to the rapid development of the local defense industry.
The European Union, for its part, announced new financial support for Ukrainian capabilities in the field of unmanned systems. Von der Leyen announced in Kiev that the EU is allocating an additional tranche of 1 billion euros for the purchase of drones under the "Loan in Support of Ukraine" program for the period 2026-2027.
According to her, of the total loan of 90 billion euros, more than a third will be directed towards defense products for Ukraine. She recalled that at the end of June, the EU had already provided a first drone support package worth 4 billion euros, which was described as the largest such European initiative to date.
The President of the European Commission also announced that plans for an additional 10 billion euros to develop defense capabilities, including drones, missiles and combat aircraft, had been approved.
Of the total loan, 60 billion euros will be allocated for defense assistance, and 30 billion euros for budgetary support to the Ukrainian state.
During their visit to Kiev, Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymyr Zelensky also signed a Declaration of Intent on a Strategic Industrial Partnership. The Ukrainian president described the document as a historic step that lays the foundation for a future major defense agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
“The Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian defense industry are an integral part of the defense of all of Europe“, Zelensky said, emphasizing that the integration of Ukrainian production with European defense structures is a strategic goal for Kiev.
During the visit, the Ukrainian leader also said that the country expects European financial support for a program to counter ballistic missiles launched in France.
Von der Leyen's visit to Ukraine is her 11th since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. It comes amid EU efforts to strengthen military and political support for Kiev and build closer cooperation in the defense industry.