Ukraine and France have agreed to start joint weapons production, the Ukrainian Defense Minister said on Monday after hosting his French counterpart in Kiev.
Mykhailo Fedorov said the two countries signed a letter of intent paving the way for "large-scale joint projects in the defense industry sector."
He did not specify what weapons would be produced with France or when production would begin, the Telegraph reports.
"We are moving from supplies to joint production and long-term solutions that systematically strengthen our defense," Fedorov said on Telegram after meeting with France's armed forces minister, Catherine Vautrin, in the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine and France also discussed new deliveries of French weapons and military equipment to Kiev, including Aster missiles, Mirage 2000 fighter jets, and SAMP-T air defense systems.
Ukraine is opening up exports of its domestically produced weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said - a way for Kiev to take advantage of its wartime technological advances to generate much-needed funds.
He said that 10 "export centers" for Ukrainian weapons will open in 2026 across Europe, adding that combat drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, will be among the exports.
"Today, Europe's security is built on technology and drones. All this will be based primarily on Ukrainian technology and Ukrainian specialists," Zelensky said.
Russian attacks damaged production sites of Ukraine's state oil and gas company, Naftogaz, in the Poltava and Sumy regions, the company's executive director said on Monday.
Facilities in the Poltava region were attacked for the second day in a row, Sergii Koretskyi said on Facebook, adding that this was the 20th attack on the company's infrastructure since the beginning of the year.
The Russian military is scrambling to find alternatives to Starlink satellite internet after access to the network was restricted, disrupting a key communications system that its forces had been illegally using on the battlefield, reports Pyotr Sauer.
Ukraine said last week that Starlink terminals used by Russian troops had been deactivated after talks between its defense minister and Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX operates the satellite network.
Ukrainian officials said the move had already begun to affect Russian operations, including the use of drones.
