Minister for Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin spoke at the European Defense and Security Summit. Here is the text of his speech.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the European community for all the support you have provided us. And specifically, for your support in developing Ukraine's defense industry. This is crucial for us now as we fight for our independence, for our existence as a nation, and for the democratic values that you too uphold.

Ukraine will become a member of the EU. We are working to ensure that the Ukrainian defense industry also becomes part of the European defense industrial base.

The integration of Ukraine’s defense industry into Europe has already begun. Notably, in March, the European Defense Strategy was introduced. It was the Russian aggression against Ukraine that spurred the EU to create this strategy for the first time in history. We have become a part of this strategy—there is planned cooperation between the defense industries of Ukraine and Europe that will strengthen both sides and offer mutual benefits.

For a long time, our defense industry was neglected. Now, we are raising it from the ashes to the highest level—the NATO standard. 

We are not competitors for your defense industries—we are a part of our mutual defense capability. We also have our own niche, a niche that is not particularly interesting to EU companies. We are able to make cheap, straightforward products that work—and we can scale up their production within weeks if we have a contract. Not a fighter jet, but a million of FPV drones — that’s our niche.

This is best illustrated by our first self-propelled artillery unit “Bogdana”. This development is so new for Ukraine that its final adjustments and tests were conducted on the battlefield after the full-scale invasion. It is a simple and relatively cheap system, but in the end of last year we were already able to do 6 of those systems in a month, as my President said. And this artillery was made immediately to a 155 mm caliber—the NATO standard.

I am confident that Europe understands this. We see your support, your interest, and the first cases of collaboration between European enterprises and Ukrainian ones.

The first joint venture between the state-owned enterprise "Ukroboronprom" and the German conglomerate Rheinmetall has been established. We now have dozens of cooperation agreements between UA and EU defense companies, which include license production agreements, experience exchange and joint production both in Ukraine and in other European countries.

And this is just the beginning of our cooperation. We have much to offer our partners. We have the capabilities of our enterprises, our engineers, and various cooperation options. We are improving our legislative framework and simplifying bureaucratic procedures to make it comfortable for partners and investors to deal with us. And we are ready to consider each case individually and address specific issues.

However, we are hitting a financial ceiling. Our country is at war, and we face a challenging economic situation. The capabilities of our enterprises are three times greater than Ukraine's procurement budget. We have factories, people ready to work, and developments. But funding is lacking.

That is why we call on our partners not only to create joint ventures and developments but also to place orders in Ukraine. We urge you to buy weapons for the Ukrainian army within our country.

We have developments that truly work on the front lines. Our manufacturers can offer highly competitive prices and quality products. And this can quickly reach the front. European countries have agreed to supply Ukraine with a million drones—I urge you to buy these drones in Ukraine.

Such cooperation is not about charity—it benefits everyone. We have a common enemy who will remain a threat even after our victory. The global community understands this and is beginning to invest money in defense. I urge you to invest in Ukrainian defense industry as a part of our shared capabilities.

And today, here, I’m pleased to announce the first of those decisions. Yesterday, Denmark approved a new donation package for Ukraine. It allocates 200 million Danish kroner for financing weapons made in Ukraine. I expect this decision to be the first of many others.

Because Ukraine is the main military laboratory of the free world. Nowhere else is there expertise like ours. Trends in the defense industry are currently emerging in Ukraine; weapons of victory are being born here.

Freedom must be better armed than tyranny. Only then can we maintain our independence and protect our partners. Let's build the Arsenal of the Free World together!