Partners should strengthen Ukraine’s defense industry, - Pistorius
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is convinced of the need to strengthen Ukraine's defense industry.
He said this before the start of the regular meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"The goal is clear: we continue to believe that Ukraine can act from a position of strength and we want to do so... As NATO partners, we want to do everything we can to ensure that support for Ukraine continues. It is in our common transatlantic and international interest," Pistorius emphasized.
To this end, partners, especially Germany, according to the Defense Minister, have stepped up cooperation in joint ventures with the Ukrainian defense industry. The minister recalled his initiative with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecorne in the Group of Five (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Poland and Italy), which met again earlier in the day to discuss a joint venture for the repair and maintenance of infantry fighting vehicles and battle tanks.
"We are talking about the combat readiness of Leopard-1 tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles. We are also talking about drones, where we have made significant progress in terms of production... In this way, we are strengthening the industrial base of the defense industry in Ukraine, which is crucial. The short distances to production and repair ensure that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have quicker access to operational material and can get replacements faster," the German Defense Minister explained.
At the same time, he noted, the benefit is mutual, as the transfer of know-how between the European and Ukrainian defense industries allows partners to improve their own systems and developments.
Pistorius also said that he had a 45-minute meeting with the new US Secretary of Defense Pete Hagel and exchanged views on NATO and Ukraine.
Asked how he assesses the chances that Europeans will be observers rather than participants in the process of reaching a peace agreement for Ukraine amid contacts between Washington and Moscow, Pistorius called this possibility "very low" because "everyone knows what role Europe plays, including in peacekeeping."
