Ukraine Agrees to Drone Deal With 9 Countries, Zelenskyy Says

Kyiv has signed drone agreements with nine countries, with another 15 agreements in the works, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday.Zelenskyy told the heads of Ukraine’s foreign diplomatic missions on Aug. 3 that Ukraine will send experts to its partner countries to assess their air defenses and other systems. They will help strengthen those defenses based on an at-least 10-year agreement.“Thanks to the Drone Deals format, Ukraine receives long-term—annual—funding for Ukraine, for Ukrainian defense industries, [which is] a stable financial basis for the defense industry,” the Ukrainian president said.“Partners receive modern defense” in return.Kyiv has greatly advanced its development and deployment of drone technology, which has become critical on the battlefield for both sides in the Ukraine-Russia war. In recent months, Ukraine has been deploying attack drones to target Russian energy and military infrastructure.“Drone deals have now been concluded with nine countries, and 15 more agreements are in the works. I congratulate our team on this very serious result,” Zelenskyy said.The Ukrainian president previously disclosed some drone deals, including with NATO member states the UK and Latvia, the latter being on the defense union’s eastern frontier, bordering Russia.Since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, Zelenskyy has leveraged Ukraine’s expertise in drone defense systems and warfare in the Middle East. He said earlier this year that he had sent specialists to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to help them combat Iranian drone attacks.In July, Zelenskyy said he signed initial documents for an agreement to begin testing drones in the United States.Project FreyjaZelenskyy also raised Project Freyja, a Ukrainian-led effort to develop a European anti-ballistic missile system, with a prototype by mid-2027.“This is our anti-ballistic project—one of the most ambitious ideas of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president told the diplomatic mission heads.Zelenskyy said that Freyja could become Europe’s common integrated defense system.Ukraine, he said, was capable of making the missile and launcher itself, with cooperation needed from European partners to develop the radars, sensors, and other necessary components and technologies for the anti-ballistic system.“We already have agreements with all these companies, with all the necessary countries,” Zelenskyy said, adding that 12 manufacturers have joined the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition.Ten European countries are part of the coalition, he said, with the other nine besides Ukraine being Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.Patriot SystemWhile developing the independent anti-ballistic missile system was a priority for Ukraine, Kyiv has in recent weeks articulated a more immediate need for U.S.-made Patriot systems.Last week, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Olha Stefanishyna told reporters during an event hosted by The Christian Science Monitor that the nation had an urgent need to acquire new armaments ahead of winter, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ramping up production of ballistic missiles.She said on July 30 that Ukraine was in discussions with the Pentagon to have Kyiv produce the missiles, but that the process could take anywhere from 12 months to five years.On July 8, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would grant Kyiv a license to produce Patriot air defense systems.Stefanishyna said that discussions were underway about Kyiv agreeing to a long-term purchase of PAC-3 missiles, and then swapping positions in the production timeline with buyers from other countries to ensure they have a reliable, consistent supply.In an interview with The Financial Times published on July 31, Trump said that he was “not sure” whether to allow Ukraine to produce the Patriot missiles.“It’s a very extraordinary weapon, and … we have to be a little bit careful of who we license to. We don’t really license equipment,” Trump said.