Sybiha: Ukraine can now cover about 40% of defense needs

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha made the statement during a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Kyiv on Friday, Ukrinform reports.

"Ukraine must become increasingly self-reliant. We need to continue developing our defense industry. We already have significant achievements in this field and have become global leaders in some areas — particularly in drone technologies. We have increased our production capacity exponentially — in some cases by as much as 35 times. We have scaled up the production of military equipment and weapons for our defense needs. Now, thanks to our defense industry, we can cover about 40% of our army's needs," Sybiha said.

He added that Ukraine's defense industry is producing NATO-standard artillery shells and systems in substantial quantities.

"Some countries with considerable potential cannot produce in a year what we manufacture in a month," Sybiha said.

At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine still needs additional investment and support to establish production of certain types of weapons domestically.

"We must not depend on any single country for the supply of critical weapons for our army. That's why this policy will continue. We have battlefield experience, strong engineering, technical, and scientific schools, as well as qualified specialists and infrastructure. So all of this will be further developed," he said.

During their talks in Kyiv, Sybiha and Fidan also discussed the peace process, the need for a full ceasefire, the release of prisoners, and security in the Black Sea region.

Photo credit: mil.gov.ua