EU commissioner proposes doubling Ukraine's military aid with local weapon production

EU Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, has suggested that Ukraine's military aid could be significantly increased if Western countries directed their investments toward purchasing weapons produced locally within Ukraine.

Kubilius explained that both the EU and the US currently provide Ukraine with military assistance totalling around 40 billion euros ($45 billion) annually, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media.

However, he noted that if these funds were redirected to procure weapons from Ukrainian manufacturers, it could significantly boost the quantity of supplied arms.

He pointed out that local production in Ukraine is much more cost-effective, with weapon manufacturing costs there being half the price of those in the EU or the US. 

He emphasised that such a strategy could effectively double the amount of weapons Ukraine receives, without increasing the total expenditure. 

"This would effectively double the amount of weapons Ukraine receives for the same 40 billion euros. The real value of our support would increase to 80 billion euros [$90 billion]," the EU commissioner stated. 

Before this, Kubilius expressed a lack of understanding regarding the strategy of US President Donald Trump following the controversial visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House. The European commissioner called the behavior of the US president unacceptable and criticised him for misjudging the level of Washington's support for Kyiv.

By Naila Huseynova