Ukraine is receiving unprecedented military aid and strategic partnerships for arms production

The 28th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group once again confirmed the resolute international support for the country. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced that 2025 will see the largest military aid for Ukraine since the start of the full-scale aggression. But this meeting also brought a historic change - the joint production of Ukrainian weapons in the Ramstein partner countries has been launched.

Ukraine's closest partners, who are already providing billions in aid, offer to build factories on their territory where drones, missiles, ammunition, EW systems and other modern defense means will be produced under Ukrainian licenses. Everything produced will be directed exclusively for the needs of the Ukrainian army as long as the war continues. The partners take on all the financing. This initiative is expected to be part of the European SAFE program (150 billion euros for the EU defense industry).

The first concrete steps are already happening: the UK is starting joint production of LMM missiles and launchers, Rheinmetall is building a Lynx armored vehicle factory in Ukraine, and SAAB, Kongsberg, KNDS and Raytheon are expanding their presence in the country. The Norwegian-Finnish company Nammo is already producing ammunition under its own licenses in Ukrainian factories, and a Western European company is starting production of missiles against Shahed drones in Ukraine.

This initiative opens the way for the Ukrainian defense sector to foreign financing, access to modern technologies and strategic industrial partnerships. The new Ramstein packages include: 350 million pounds from the UK for 100,000 drones by 2025 and a total of 4.5 billion pounds in aid; 5 billion euros from Germany for long-range weapons, air defense and ammunition, some of which will be produced in Ukraine; 400 million euros from the Netherlands for naval drones, boats and an anti-submarine ship; 1 billion euros per year until 2029 from Belgium; 700 million dollars from Norway for drones and 50 million dollars in the NSATU Trust Fund; 45 million dollars from Canada for drones, EW, IT solutions and armored vehicles; and 440 million euros from Sweden for artillery ammunition, drones and others.