President Zelensky says Ukraine to begin weapons exports

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Tuesday that weapons exports “will become a reality” after key details were approved at the state level.

Zelensky said a new format of cooperation called Drone Deals, covering the production and supply of drones, missiles, ammunition and other military equipment, as well as technology exchange and integration with partners’ defense systems, is already underway with countries across the Middle East and Gulf region, Europe and the Caucasus.

“A proposal is also on the table for our American partners,” he wrote on US social media company X.

Zelensky said Kyiv will simplify procedures for arms exports while maintaining appropriate controls, adding that exports will apply only to surplus production, with domestic military needs remaining the priority.

“Ukrainian companies will receive a real opportunity to enter partner countries’ markets, provided that our military has the right to receive the necessary volume of weapons first,” he said. “A surplus of production capacity in Ukraine for certain types of weapons reaches 50%.”

He said authorities will determine a list of countries barred from receiving Ukrainian weapons because of their ties with Russia.

“This is a serious challenge – to prevent our technologies and weapons from falling into Russian hands,” Zelensky said.