Lesia Orobets, Head of “Air Defence Shield for Ukraine” initiative, moderated the discussion “Arms production investments. Are Western partners ready to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities?”. The event was organized by the New Europe Center in partnership with the National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS” NGO.

The expert emphasized a number of critically important issues that determine the effectiveness of international cooperation in the sphere of defense production:

• the European defense industry remains in a “peacetime mode” and fulfills functions far removed from defense, whereas Ukraine requires different approaches – speed, scale, and timely decision-making;
• Russia demonstrates effective technical, engineering, and institutional cooperation with China, North Korea, and Iran, enabling it to rapidly improve its weaponry;
• frozen Russian assets must be transferred to Ukraine immediately to finance arms production;
• Sky Shield initiative is a necessary instrument for protecting Ukraine’s economy, defense production, and enhancing the resilience of the state.

The video recording

in Ukrainian is available here: https://cutt.ly/erXbvdvm

in English is here: https://cutt.ly/4rZcFA41.

Photo-report: https://cutt.ly/wrVgoJig

This event is funded by the UK government as part of the “Mutual Transformative Power: changing Ukraine through cooperation with wider Europe” project, implemented by the New Europe Center. The views expressed during the event are those of the participants and may not coincide with the official position of the UK government.