Ukraine and Germany launch plans for joint production of advanced drones

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz adress the media during a press conference at the German-Ukrainian government consultations in Berlin. Picture: AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi.

Ukraine and Germany are starting work on plans for the joint production of advanced drones and other battle-tested defence systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as Kyiv looks to scale up its more than four-year fight against Russia’s all-out invasion.

“We have proposed to Germany a bilateral drone deal covering various types of drones, missiles, software and modern defence systems. Our teams are starting concrete work,” Mr Zelensky said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a visit to Berlin.

Mr Merz said that Germany’s commitment to supporting Kyiv’s war effort is “a very clear signal” to Russia.

“We will not waver in our efforts to defend Ukraine,” he said.

US-led diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war on its neighbour have recently petered out as the Iran war grips the Trump administration’s attention, although Tammy Bruce, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council on Monday that Washington “will continue to push for a negotiated and durable end” to the war.

Russia has occupied about 20% of Ukraine so far. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

Ukraine has the capacity to produce twice as much military equipment as it is currently deploying, but lacks funding to step up production, according to Mr Zelensky.

“We simply don’t have enough money,” he said.

A key to unlocking that potential lies in obtaining a promised 90 billion-euro loan from the European Union. That was being held up by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, but his impending departure from office after a weekend election could free up the money.

Ukraine needs those funds “urgently”, Mr Merz said.

After Berlin, Mr Zelensky was due to visit Norway, another important financial and military ally, while defence leaders from the 50-plus partner nations who regularly gather to co-ordinate weapons aid for Kyiv will hold an online meeting on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said.

Kyiv is heavily reliant on US intelligence for targeting inside Russia and needs more sophisticated American-made air defence systems to stop Russian missile attacks on its power grid. If the Iran war drags on, it could erode vital US support for Kyiv, Mr Zelensky fears.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian army is short-handed, facing around 200,000 troop desertions and draft-dodging by around two million people, Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in January.

Germany will help Kyiv facilitate the return home of Ukrainian men of military age, Mr Merz said.

“We need rapid, tangible progress here,” he said.

Domestically developed unmanned platforms are playing a vital role in holding back Russia’s invasion. Ukraine makes air and sea drones, missiles that have reached around 1,000 miles into Russia, as well as battlefield robots that help make up for its troop shortage.

Ukraine has been approached about security co-operation, especially battle-tested drone production, by eight Middle East and Gulf countries, as well as Turkey, Iraq and countries in south-east Asia and Africa, Mr Zelensky said on Monday.

Despite its handicaps, western analysts and officials say Ukraine has in recent months recorded battlefield successes against Russia’s bigger army, disrupting a spring offensive started by Russia amid improving weather, as fields dry out and new foliage on tree lines offers more cover.

Meanwhile, the long-range drones and missiles that Kyiv designs and produces are repeatedly striking oil facilities and manufacturing plants deep inside Russia.

Ukraine “is in a much better place than it has been at any stage in this horrific war”, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Monday.

Ukraine “is on top from a military perspective”, Mr Stubb said, noting that last month Ukraine fired more drones and missiles at Russia than vice versa.

Moscow has also claimed progress on the battlefield. Independent verification of each side’s claims was not possible.

Meanwhile, a Russian missile attack on the eastern Ukraine city of Dnipro killed four people and left 21 in hospital with injuries, 10 of them in a serious condition, regional authorities said on Tuesday.

The city’s attorney general’s office said the victims, all civilians, were driving or walking past the scene of the strike in the city, 300 miles south-east of Kyiv.

Elsewhere, a 52-year-old woman was killed in a Russian drone strike in the southern city of Kherson that also left one man seriously wounded, authorities said.

- Associated Press