Countering ballistics: Ukraine offers joint projects to European countries, - Fedorov
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on European partners to join forces to develop countermeasures against ballistic missiles, continue funding the PURL program, and ensure the rapid and flexible use of EU financial support.
This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, according to Censor.NET.
Strengthening missile defense
During a video conference with representatives of the E5 group—France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom—Fedorov discussed priorities for strengthening missile defense.
The head of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said that the European defense industry needs to urgently ramp up its production capacity in the field of ballistic missile defense systems, as current production volumes remain critically low.
Joint projects
Ukraine has proposed launching joint projects with European countries to develop and produce anti-ballistic solutions. At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Defense added that Ukraine is already implementing its own initiatives in this area.
PURL Program
Separately, Fedorov emphasized the need to continue funding the PURL program, which is currently the key mechanism for obtaining PAC-3 missiles for Patriot systems.
The minister thanked the partners for the specific decisions taken during the Ramstein meeting. He separately expressed his gratitude to Boris Pistorius for the initiative to provide additional PAC-3 missiles. Ukraine has already begun to receive missiles under these agreements.
"The rapid implementation of agreements within hours is an example of how we should work," emphasized Myhailo Fedorov.
Economic pressure on Russia
He also said that Ukraine is preparing proposals to increase economic pressure on Russia. In particular, these include asymmetric measures against Russia's "shadow fleet." Ukraine is counting on European countries to take the lead in implementing these measures.
During the discussions, particular attention was paid to the importance of the rapid and flexible use of the EU loan for Ukraine's defense. According to the Minister of Defense, these funds should be used to achieve the main goal—the successful end of the war for Ukraine.
What preceded it?
Earlier it was reported that on February 20, Krakow will host a meeting of defense ministers from Poland, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom (E5), which will be attended by Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
