Ukraine to boost domestic arms production to counter Russian forces, says Zelensky

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - KYIV — Ukraine's new government has approved plans to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country’s weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.

"We are transforming the management of the defence sector and weapons production so that within six months, the share of Ukrainian-made weapons available to our warriors will noticeably increase," Zelensky said in a speech to parliament in Kyiv.

"Currently, about 40% of the weapons in the hands of our warriors are made in Ukraine. In six months, it should be no less than 50%."

Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones which it uses to strike deep inside Russia with the country keen to increase its domestic production as uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide.

Meanwhile, Switzerland said on Thursday that the US Defence Department had informed it that Washington is diverting a Swiss order for Patriot air defence systems to help Ukraine, which it badly needs to improve its response to increasingly heavy Russian aerial attacks.

It was not immediately clear whether the Swiss-ordered Patriots would go directly to Ukraine or would replace units in other European countries that may be donated to Kyiv.

Delivery to Switzerland of the systems, worth billions of dollars, was scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2028.

But the Swiss government said Washington informed it of the delay on Wednesday, adding that it was unclear how many systems would be affected.

The need to adequately arm Ukraine's military is pressing as Russia looks to drive forward its summer offensive and pounds Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles.

The US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said he couldn't give a timeframe for when Ukraine might get extra foreign weapons.

"We are all moving with haste to facilitate this and get this done. Things are actually moving very quickly, but I can't verify a date that this will all be completed. I think it's going to be an ongoing movement," he told reporters in Brussels.

"The plan is that there will be American-made defence equipment, capabilities, that will be sold to our European allies, that they will provide to Ukraine."

British Defence Secretary John Healey said on Thursday that he and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius will chair a meeting of Ukraine's allies on Monday to discuss US President Donald Trump's weapons plans.

Healey said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte will attend the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, told the AP on Thursday that "preparations are underway" for weapons transfers to Ukraine and that NATO is working "very closely" with Germany to transfer Patriot systems.

Grynkewich said at a military event in Wiesbaden that he had been ordered to "move (the weapons) out as quickly as possible."

German Defence Ministry spokesperson Mitko Müller said Wednesday he couldn't confirm that anything is currently on its way to Ukraine.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said in Washington on Monday that the alliance is coordinating the military support with funding from allies in Europe and Canada.

He said there were commitments from Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada, "with more expected to follow."

Trump said on 11 July that Washington will send weapons, including Patriot air defence systems, to Ukraine via NATO.

Speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome a day earlier, Zelenskyy said that Germany would pay for two of the systems, while Norway has agreed to supply one. — Euronews