Ukraine's Top Officials Agree on Need for Rapid, Domestic Weapons Production

(Reuters) - On Friday 20 September 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that senior Ukrainian officials agreed in an "emotional" discussion that the country needs to make more weaponry domestically and speed up production.

Zelensky said munitions production was the focus of a meeting with senior officials, including his defence and foreign ministers and top military commanders.

"We discussed the issue of drone production and providing drones to all elements of the defence and security forces in great detail, even emotionally," he said in his nightly video address. "We also talked today about the production of missiles, electronic warfare systems and cooperation with partners...The main thing is not just to have contracts and funding for them but also the speed of actual production and real supply."

Zelensky issues almost daily appeals for Ukraine's Western allies to provide more military assistance, mainly long-range weapons and air defence systems, but has also focused on stepping up domestic production.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has spurred drone production by both sides.

Zelensky said late last year that Ukraine aimed to produce a million drones in 2024 and a Ukrainian minister said in March that it could double that rate if it received additional financial support from the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Moscow was boosting production by around 10 times to nearly 1.4 million this year.