On September 18, 2026, the New Europe Center (Ukraine) together with the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET, Taiwan), held an online expert discussion on the state and prospects of Ukraine–Taiwan cooperation in the drone sector.

The discussion brought together Ukrainian and Taiwanese experts to exchange views on lessons from Ukraine’s battlefield experience, the evolving drone ecosystems of both countries, and opportunities and obstacles for deeper bilateral cooperation.

Among the Ukrainian participants were Sergiy Solodkyy, Director at the New Europe Center, Nataliya Butyrska, Associated Senior Fellow at the New Europe Center, Mykhailo Samus, Director of the New Geopolitics Research Network and Olena Davlikanova, Senior Fellow at the Sahaidachnyi Security Center and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

From the Taiwanese side, DSET was represented by Weiting Chen, Director of the National Security Research Program, and Samara Duerr, Policy Analyst at the National Security Research Program, Cathy Fang, Policy Analyst at the National Security Research Program, joined by DSET colleagues including Eli Lin, Abby Huang, Jim Hsu-Sung Wu.

Moderated by Nataliya Butyrska, the discussion covered a wide range of topics, including:

• how Ukraine’s battlefield experience has shaped Taiwan’s approach to drone development, procurement, and operational doctrine, and which elements of Ukraine’s drone ecosystem are and are not transferable to Taiwan’s distinct security, geographic, and industrial context;
• the current state of Ukraine–Taiwan cooperation in the drone sector assessments of the probability and possible scenarios of a Chinese move against Taiwan;
• the strategic significance of China–Russia technological cooperation, including supply-chain links feeding Russia’s war effort, as a shared concern for Ukrainian and Taiwanese security communities.

Samara Duerr presented findings in DSET`s recent research Drone Superpower: Ukraine’s UAV Success and Where Taiwan–Ukraine Cooperation Fits In.

Participants agreed on the value of continuing and deepening this dialogue, with China–Russia cooperation proposed as a potential focus for a future discussion, and identified further joint research and expert exchanges as a next step in strengthening Ukraine–Taiwan cooperation in the drone sector.

The New Europe Center sincerely thanks all Ukrainian and Taiwanese speakers for their valuable insights and contributions to this timely and meaningful discussion.

The Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) is a Taipei-based national think tank established in 2023 under Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council, focused on economic security, democratic governance, national security, and energy resilience.

The online discussion was organized by the New Europe Center (Kyiv, Ukraine) in partnership with the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET, Taiwan) and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation (Kyiv, Ukraine).