KYIV — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Tuesday Ukraine will officially allow the export of surplus, domestically made weapons during wartime.
“We have approved all the details at the level of our state institutions. Currently, our security expertise and weapons, which have been tested in modern warfare, are of interest to all partners capable of ensuring a real level of protection for their statehood and the lives of their citizens,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy had earlier limited state-level defense cooperation with other countries to only offering Ukrainian battle expertise, as a tool to establish diplomatic ties, worrying that uncontrolled export would lead Ukraine to lose its technology and leverage.
And while the government lifted the ban on defense exports last September, these exports were still severely limited by a reluctant government, with Zelenskyy even lashing out at some defense producers that struck deals with foreign countries. “I know about some 10 factories, built in different parts of the world behind the state’s back,” Zelenskyy said last month, during a video call with several reporters, also attended by POLITICO.
Tuesday’s announcement puts formal procedures in place to finally make homegrown defense exports a reality.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv had proposed to its partners “a special form of cooperation,” where Ukraine would supply a surplus of drones and other weapons, as well as battle expertise, in return for partners opening Ukrainian weapons production factories in their countries, sharing software, and integrating with Ukrainian weapons systems. Zelenskyy described the form as “drone deals.”
According to the new rules, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine will coordinate export processes and make sure the needs of Ukraine’s Defense and Security Forces are met first.
Only surplus production — what manufacturers can produce beyond the state order in Ukraine — will be allowed for export.
Countries will first have to define a framework for security cooperation with Ukraine on the principle of reciprocity through defense deals. Then the purchasing would continue through state institutions and manufacturers.
“We are simplifying bureaucratic procedures, maintaining an adequate level of export control, and launching practical operating mechanisms for companies. Ukrainian companies will receive a real opportunity to enter partner countries’ markets, but our military has the right to receive the necessary volume of weapons first,” Zelenskyy added.
Kyiv will strictly track weapons and software to ensure groundbreaking Ukrainian military tech doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
“I instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with our intelligence services and the Security Service of Ukraine, to determine the list of countries to which exports of our weapons are not possible due to their cooperation with the aggressor state,” Zelenskyy said.
“This is a serious challenge — to prevent our technologies and weapons from falling into Russian hands,” he added.
