The United Kingdom will finance the production of air defense systems and long-range weapons in Ukraine.

Rustem Umierov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, announced this.

The statement was made following a working visit to the United Kingdom, where the Defense Minister met with Secretary of State for Defense John Healey.

“Special attention was paid to the development of the Ukrainian defense industry. The United Kingdom has already invested in the production of our weapons, and this cooperation continues: in particular, funding will be directed to the production of air defense and long-range weapons,” Rustem Umerov said.

As a reminder, at the end of 2024, the United Kingdom provided Ukraine with a loan of £2.26 billion to purchase the necessary weapons.

The UK Ministry of Defense noted that the loan is intended to provide budgetary support for Ukraine’s military spending, which “will enable the Ukrainians to invest in key equipment to support their efforts against Russia, such as air defense, artillery, and wider technical support.”

This loan is the UK’s contribution to the overall G7 program for Ukraine. The program includes a $50 billion loan for military, budgetary, and reconstruction needs.

The loan will be repaid with excess profits from frozen Russian assets under Western sanctions.

However, it is yet unknown whether the Minister of Defense of Ukraine’s announcement refers to an agreement to use these funds to purchase weapons directly from the Ukrainian defense industry or to allocate additional assistance.

The Danish Model

In 2024, Ukraine, together with Denmark, launched a new mechanism for financing the procurement of weapons for the Defense Forces from Ukrainian defense industry companies called the Danish Model.

Ukraine compiles a list of projects that need funding, and Danish experts check the recommended companies and assess their capacity and experience in executing contracts. After that, funding from partners is allocated.

Under this scheme, almost $1 billion in funding was raised in 2024. At the same time, by the end of 2024, the Ukrainian industry managed to supply the Defense Forces with weapons worth about $550 million paid for in this way.