Drone Coalition for Ukraine: Two more countries want to join
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Belgium and Türkiye have expressed their intention to join the international Drone Coalition for Ukraine, led by Latvia and the United Kingdom, the press service of the Latvian Ministry of Defense reports.
At the Drone Coalition Summit on Wednesday, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds announced that Türkiye and Belgium have expressed their intention to join the coalition.
The minister also noted that the member countries of the format have jointly contributed around 180 million euros to a common procurement fund managed by the United Kingdom.
According to the Latvian Ministry of Defense, this fund is intended for centralized procurement of drone technologies alongside national support measures from each coalition member country.
Latvia itself has announced plans to allocate €20 million in 2025 for the coalition's needs, which will be directed towards purchasing drones, and an additional €10 million for cooperation projects between Latvian and Ukrainian industries.
It is noted that since the creation of the Drone Coalition in February 2024, its member states have provided significant support to Ukraine. In 2024 alone, this support amounted to a total of €1.8 billion, and in 2025 it is planned to reach €2.75 billion.
Currently, the Drone Coalition includes 18 countries, so with the addition of Belgium and Türkiye, the number will increase to 20. This step requires separate approval from the current members of the format.
The Drone Coalition
The Drone Coalition is an organization of countries involved in the production and delivery of drones to Ukraine as part of military assistance to counter Russian aggression.
The initiative to create the coalition was launched by Latvia, announced during a meeting between Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in December 2023.
Currently, the Drone Coalition consists of 18 official member states: Latvia, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Estonia, Italy, New Zealand, Canada, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and Sweden.
Recently, Latvia sent another 1,500 attack drones to Ukraine as part of the international Drone Coalition.
