Ukraine and Germany will jointly develop and produce combat drones with a range of up to 1,500 kilometers, announced German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a visit to Kiev.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the two countries are preparing cooperation on six defense projects.
"I am very pleased that we have started work on joint production between our countries," Zelensky said during a meeting with Pistorius. "I think this is a real step forward, a strong one. We can now count on six projects."
The Ukrainian Ukrinform agency did not specify which specific initiatives were discussed. Zelensky nevertheless recalled that during his visit to Germany in April, an agreement was signed to support Ukrainian air defense.
"I will not go into details. Let this be a surprise for the Russians," the Ukrainian president said.
After a meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Pistorius confirmed that Berlin and Kiev have already signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of unmanned systems.
"This, of course, applies in particular to the joint development and production of drones with different ranges - from less than 100 km to 1,500 km," the German minister said.