Ukrainian ambassador suggests giving thought to joint arms production with U.S
KYIV. Aug 23 (Interfax) - Ukraine should start dialogue with the United States on the possibility of jointly manufacturing weapons and ammunition in Ukrainian territory, Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly said.
"I think that we need to discuss not only deliveries. I think that today we also need to seriously speak about the joint production of both weapons and ammunition [...]," Chaly said in an interview with the Channel 5 television station on Monday.
When asked by the program host exactly what kind of production this could be, the ambassador said that the opposite side had effectively removed ammunition production from that part of Ukraine after the confrontation broke out in Donbas.
"That is why we need to manufacture ammunition somewhere, and this issue will be resolved one way or another," he said.
Chaly also said he believed that such production could also be profitable for the U.S. because the manufacturing of weapons in Ukraine would offer an opportunity to ship them to third countries' markets.
"The production of lethal weapons in Ukraine is already a strategy [...] If our partners have entered, they already see you as a key country in the region," the ambassador said.
This possible joint production will not stop shipments of non-lethal weapons to Ukraine, he said.
"Today we have a good situation as far as the U.S. understanding of the security and defense sector is concerned. You know that batches of defense equipment have arrived recently [...] I can tell you that although I cannot name an exact day at this point, in the next few days we will have another consignment of such equipment, which guards the lives of our guys at the frontline," Chaly said.
In 2016, the U.S. earmarked $650 million for support for Ukraine, of which $335 million was intended directly for defense and security measures, he said.
Hopefully, Ukraine's cooperation with its American partners will become even more vigorous in the future, he said.
