Four years of war built an industry nobody expected. Now Denmark, Estonia and Netherlands want in on it too. Nine deals signed, and Zelenskiy isn’t done yet.
Image Source: X
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday that Ukraine has signed three additional drone deals, this time with Denmark, Estonia and the Netherlands. These agreements share Ukraine’s drone expertise, built over more than four years of war with Russia.
Zelenskyy shared the news through social media posts, made on the sidelines of the NATO summit taking place in Ankara, Turkey. With these latest agreements, Kyiv has now signed a total of nine such drone deals with different countries.
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Ukraine built up this drone expertise almost from scratch. The country had only limited knowledge in this sector before Russia invaded in February 2022. Since then, Ukraine has developed what is now considered a highly advanced drone industry.
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Zelenskyy has traveled extensively to promote these drone partnerships, particularly across the Middle East. This push gained added relevance this year, as Gulf countries were forced to counter Iranian strikes in the region.
Speaking specifically about the agreement with Denmark, Zelenskyy said it opens up greater opportunities for joint defence production. He added that the deal also allows for the exchange of expertise and greater transparency in weapons exports.
According to Zelenskyy, Denmark was the first country to offer joint production within Ukraine itself. He said it is only fair that Denmark now gets access to Ukrainian weapons exports, systems that have already been tested in actual war conditions.
In a separate post on X, shared at the end of the first day of summit meetings, Zelenskyy said Ukraine rightfully belongs at the gathering. He reiterated that Kyiv’s main goal at the summit is to secure stronger air defence support and a more solid diplomatic position among allies.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly stressed Ukraine’s urgent need to strengthen its defences against Russian ballistic missiles. This need has grown more pressing following two recent attacks on Kyiv within the past week.
The most recent attack took place on Monday. It resulted in the deaths of 19 people in the Ukrainian capital.
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