Nearly 60 companies from 23 countries to jointly produce weapons with Ukraine – foreign minister

Ukraine has recently created the Defense Industries Alliance to develop its arms production amid war.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on the air of the national telethon that 59 foreign companies from 23 countries have already joined the union.

The top diplomat said he believed such an alliance encouraged "specific commitments" from foreign companies to create weapons production together with Ukraine.

According to Kuleba, NATO began working to increase ammunition and weapons production last year. This came following a decrease in the available stocks in NATO member states after partners supplied military aid to Ukraine.

The newly created Defense Industries Alliance could minimize the risk of running out of stocks of ammunition and weapons.

Kuleba said earlier that from now on, Kyiv "doesn't just bring foreign weapons to Ukraine" but integrates the Ukrainian defense industry into NATO's. The International Defense Industries Forum opened a new era in Ukrainian defense development.

What we know about First International Defense Industries Forum (DFNC1)

Ukraine held its first Defense Industries Forum for domestic and foreign arms manufacturers, DFNC1. The forum was jointly organized by the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

252 defense companies from more than 30 countries participated in the forum in Kyiv. These include tanks, artillery, drones, ammunition manufacturers, innovative software developers, and owners of unique complex technologies. Ukrainian state and private defense companies and defense-tech startups joined the event. 

The event was developed to record the achievements of Ukraine's defense-industrial complex and consider what can add to the country's possibilities, particularly by creating new production facilities in Ukraine.

Zelensky also announced that Ukraine would establish a special defense fund, which will be filled with dividends from state defense assets and profits from the sale of confiscated Russian assets.