United to win: Drone Coalition joins forces to provide €1.8 bln in aid for Ukraine’s armed forces

The countries participating in the International Drone Coalition will allocate 1.8 billion euros this year to support Ukraine's armed forces.

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, announced that on Facebook.

"1.8 billion euros – this is how much the countries of the International Drone Coalition will allocate this year to support Ukraine's armed forces. This was announced by our partners from Latvia, which, together with the United Kingdom, is leading this initiative," Umerov noted.

He recalled that on October 31, the first meeting of the coalition's steering group was held in Riga, which brought together 17 countries:

• Australia,
• Great Britain,
• Denmark,
• Estonia,
• Italy,
• Canada,
• Latvia,
• Lithuania,
• Luxembourg,
• the Netherlands,
• Germany,
• New Zealand,
• Poland,
• France,
• the Czech Republic,
• Sweden
• and Ukraine.

"Latvia will allocate 20 million euros this year for the drone coalition: at least 10 million for purchases from domestic industry, and 5 million for joint purchases within the coalition," the minister informed.

In addition, he added that an agreement was signed with Latvian partners to train Ukrainian military personnel in the drone piloting program.

For reference:

As Rubryka reported, the UK government announced on November 19 that it was allocating £7.5 million for new drones for Ukraine.

On January 18, the creation of the Drones and Electronic Warfare Coalition was reported. Currently, the Drones Coalition includes 16 partner countries.

Latvia initiated the creation of the Coalition. The initiative was announced during a December 2023 meeting between Latvia's Defense Minister Andris Spruds and Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

Ukraine has already received thousands of drones as part of the initiative. Using the funds already accumulated by the Coalition for joint procurement (71 million euros), it is expected that 20,000 to 30,000 more drones will be purchased and delivered.