Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen opened the EU Office for Defense Innovation.

The Minister of Defense reported about this on Facebook.

“This is a new stage in our relations with the European Union in the field of defense technologies. The main focus of this cooperation is to join forces to strengthen defense capabilities. We pay special attention to joint developments in the field of IT and weapons production, which will be crucial for defeating Russian aggression.”

By strengthening Ukraine’s technological capabilities, the IT Coalition has already raised more than €70 million from 13 member countries, creating a secure IT infrastructure for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

Our Drone Coalition of 16 member countries has secured more than €500 million in funding and donated thousands of drones to Ukraine.

What can we offer our European partners? Over the past 2.5 years, Ukraine has rapidly become a global leader in drone technology. Today, more than 500 Ukrainian drone manufacturers and thousands of developers create advanced solutions for combat operations. With an annual production capacity of up to 3 million drones, Ukraine has established itself as a true defense and technical center.

“Our country has a huge potential in defense technologies, and I urge our European partners to invest in Ukrainian producers. Together, we can significantly strengthen the defense capabilities of not only Ukraine, but the whole of Europe,” the minister said.

Defense and industrial cooperation with the EU

In March 2024, it became known that the integration and support of the Ukrainian defense industry had become one of the goals of the European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS). This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

“The aim of the strategy is to strengthen the European defense technology industrial base so that the EU defense industry would be able to meet the needs of member states in a timely manner and in sufficient quantities,” the ministry said.

The strategy has already been allocated €1.5 billion from the EU budget for 2025-2027, with the possibility of expanding funding.

It was added that the impetus for the creation of the first-ever European Defense Industrial Strategy had been the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The document was created with consideration of the position of Ukrainian departments on defense and protection against Russia’s armed aggression, as well as the vision of the development of the European and Ukrainian defense industry.

In particular, the Strategy envisages that the EU will open a Defense Innovation Office in Kyiv. The aim is to ensure interaction between Union’s startups and innovators and Ukraine’s industry and the Armed Forces.