Canada seeks to jointly produce military equipment with Ukraine

Canada is studying the possibility of concluding a number of bilateral agreements with Ukraine on the joint production of military equipment, Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty says.

According to the Minister, the possibility of establishing such production is currently under consideration by the Ministry of National Defense and the Canadian Armed Forces. As an example for study, Ottawa is considering the models of cooperation already being implemented between Ukraine and some European countries, including Denmark and France.

McGuinty speaks positively about Ukraine's progress in the field of unmanned technologies.

The Minister says Canada is actively studying this. It is possible that Canadian companies will get some interesting industrial advantages. That's what they're looking at to see what the best mechanism is, he adds.

In addition, according to McGuinty, the federal government of Canada is exploring the possibility of financing the creation of production facilities both in Ukraine and Canada.

This statement was made against the backdrop of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the NATO summit in The Hague, during which the head of government announced the preparation of large-scale defense spending.

As part of the event, David McGuinty met with representatives of leading European defense companies to discuss the future development strategy of Canada's military-industrial complex, which is currently in the process of being formed.

Canada recently announced a new aid package for Ukraine worth over $2 billion.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with new Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss pressure on Russia and the path to peace.

In the spring, Carney did not rule out the participation of Canadian peacekeeping forces in an operation in Ukraine.