Air defence, drones and artillery: Kyiv aligns defence cooperation with Belgium and Spain ahead of Ramstein

Ukraine has aligned key areas of defence cooperation with Belgium and Spain ahead of the upcoming Ramstein-format meeting. These include strengthening air defence, developing drone capabilities and supplying the front line with long-range artillery.

As reported by Censor.NET, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced this on Telegram.

"I held talks with Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken and Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles. We synchronized the key areas of cooperation — strengthening air defence, developing drone capabilities, and the Czech initiative to supply the front line with long-range artillery," the minister said.

Planned assistance

Belgium is allocating €1 billion in defence aid to Ukraine this year. The country also confirmed its intention to transfer additional F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and to ensure the supply of spare parts for the aircraft already in service.
Spain is also providing €1 billion in support for Ukraine this year. During the meeting, special attention was given to developing cooperation between the defence industries, particularly within the European SAFE mechanism. We are ready to offer a list of manufacturers that could establish cooperation with Spanish companies.
For its part, Ukraine also proposed the possibility of testing Spanish drones in combat conditions.

"I thanked Belgium and Spain for their consistent support. Thanks to win-win cooperation with partners, Ukraine continues to hold off enemy advances on the ground and deoccupy territories, protect the sky and improve the effectiveness of intercepting missiles and drones, as well as intensify strikes on Russia’s economy," Fedorov stressed.