Deputy Defense Minister: Ukraine lays groundwork to become security exporter

This was stated in a comment to Ukrinform by Anatolii Kutsevol, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for European Integration, who participated in the Berlin Security Conference.

“Our key message is simple: we are no worse, and perhaps even better partners than the major companies that have long been operating in the arms market. Ukraine is currently fighting for its existence, and at the same time laying the foundations to become a global exporter of security in the future,” Kutsevol emphasized.

He noted that investing in Ukraine's defense industry is not charity, but an insurance policy for the continent.

“Ukraine has production capacity, and our partners have resources. Thanks to this synergy, we can increase our production by at least 40%,” Kutsevol said.

He stressed the importance of the human component: the nation's readiness to respond to any difficult situation is key. Currently, the European security system is built on a peaceful regime, and it is very difficult to make 500 million people realize that they need to think about their own security now, not “sometime later.” At the same time, the enemy sees only readiness, not good intentions, noted the deputy head of the Ministry of Defense.

The biggest problem that everyone needs to understand is the one that the Berlin forum focused on: there is no time to think about hypotheses such as “is it worth doing this?”

"It is necessary and long overdue. If Europe's military-industrial machine had been deployed in 2022, Russia might not have dared to escalate, realizing that the potential of a continent of 500 million people, together with a large industrial complex, particularly in Germany, is significantly greater — intellectually, innovatively, and financially. That is why today we say that speed and innovation are what Europe needs," Kutsevol said.

According to him, the Ukrainian delegation at the conference once again emphasized that a joint war is currently underway and that the security of Europe now depends on the security of Ukraine.

"Therefore, the European military industry is working in two directions at once: first, to give Ukraine the necessary tools to deter the enemy, and second, to create a critical stockpile of weapons to deter possible Russian aggression against European countries," the deputy minister said, adding that the Kremlin assesses the situation based on one thing only: the ability of potential adversaries to respond with force.

As reported, the Berlin Security Conference was held in the capital of Germany on November 18-19.

Photo: Olha Tanasychuk