UK calls for building "massive arms factory" in Poland to help Ukraine win war

The chairman of the UK Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood has said that a “massive arms factory” must be built in Poland to help Ukraine win the war.

He said Western governments had demonstrated a lack of strategic foresight in their plans for helping Ukraine to “survive and thrive”, according to The Telegraph.

While the Conservative MP welcomed the decision to deliver Western-made main battle tanks, he told The Telegraph the model of donations to Kyiv with differing supply chains and types of ammunition were “unsustainable”.

“It’s just not feasible in the long term,” he said. “Tanks today, yes. But we need a strategy to make sure Ukraine can defend itself.”

With Western military stocks dwindling, Ellwood said the creation of an arms factory in Poland could help transform the Ukrainian armed forces into a more independent military.

The concept is modelled on a microchip factory opened by Taiwan, which fears a Chinese invasion could cut it off from the West, in the United States.

“Let’s do the same with Ukraine so they can procure their own equipment to their own specification, probably Nato standard, and have a constantly protected supply chain,” said Mr Ellwood.

Talks have already opened with Poland over hosting such a facility, and Mr Ellwood proposed that Britain should take a leading role amongst Western governments to ensure the project could be successful.

It is thought Ukraine would be able to use the factory to produce the German-made Leopard II tank under licence to further bolster stocks in the future.