Ukraine and Finland sign Drone Deal on joint arms production
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of Finland Alexander Stubb on Wednesday, September 23, signed in New York the Drone Deal agreement, which provides for expanding cooperation between the two countries in the defense industry and joint production of defense products.
The conclusion of the agreement was announced by Stubb, and the information was also made public by the Government of Finland. The document was signed while both presidents were in New York for the high-level week of the UN General Assembly.
The Drone Deal creates a framework for closer cooperation between Ukrainian and Finnish defense companies, including for joint production of military products. The parties intend to combine Ukrainian experience in developing and using modern weapons with the production and technological capabilities of Finnish industry.
The signing of the agreement was the result of work that Kyiv and Helsinki had been conducting for several months. In May, Zelensky handed over the Drone Deal draft to Finland, and already in June the Ukrainian and Finnish sides reported that they were working on finalizing the document.
Practical cooperation began to develop even before the conclusion of the intergovernmental agreement. In August, representatives of Ukrainian and Finnish defense companies, in the presence of Zelensky and Stubb, signed three documents on the development of joint projects.
One of them concerns the development and production in Finland of unmanned systems for the needs of Ukraine and European countries. Two other directions provide for the development of maritime unmanned systems and the creation of production facilities for ground robotic systems.
The negotiations at that time involved seven Finnish technology and defense companies — Boomeranger, Insta, Patria, Nokia, NestAI, Sensofusion and ICEYE. Zelensky stated that cooperation was already moving from agreements to real joint production.
Stubb had also previously said that Ukraine possesses unique experience of modern warfare, which is valuable for the Finnish defense industry. In August, the President of Finland stated that the agreement should be beneficial for both sides: in the short term, Finnish industry will be able to increase assistance to Ukraine, and in the long term, Finland will gain access to Ukrainian combat experience and technologies.
The Drone Deal is part of a broader Ukrainian program of defense cooperation with partners. It provides not only for the purchase of finished products, but also for joint development of weapons, localization of Ukrainian technologies abroad, investment in production and exchange of experience. Within the framework of similar agreements, Ukraine is already developing cooperation with a number of European states.
Shortly before the signing of the agreement, Finland also approved the next, 34th package of military assistance to Ukraine worth about 290 million euros. According to the Ministry of Defense of Finland, the total value of defense materiel transferred to Ukraine reached 3.6 billion euros.
