Speaking at the International Defense Industries Forum, President Volodymyr Zelensky framed Ukraine’s rapidly growing defense sector as both a national achievement and a strategic necessity — and called for faster production, deeper international cooperation and a new system to export Ukrainian-made weapons.
“Today, for the third time already, we are opening a truly large-scale international forum in Ukraine – the Defense Industries Forum,” Zelensky said, noting that holding such an event in the midst of a full-scale war “demonstrates Ukrainian strength that only continues to grow.”
He used the forum to sketch out a vision in which Ukraine’s industry not only supplies its own armed forces but becomes integrated into Western defense supply chains.
The president ticked off a string of recent milestones. Since the full-scale invasion began, Ukraine’s defence-industrial capacity has increased tenfold, he said, and next year production potential for drones and missiles alone is expected to reach $35 billion. Domestic artillery efforts have also moved quickly: Bohdana howitzers are now being manufactured at a rate of about 40 units per month, and last year Ukraine produced and delivered roughly 2.4 million mortar and artillery rounds of various calibers to the front.
Zelensky placed particular emphasis on drones and naval unmanned systems, arguing they have re-shaped Ukraine’s force posture and had a strategic effect far beyond their cost.
“Ukrainian naval drones became a global defense sensation,” he said, adding that these systems helped push the Russian Black Sea fleet into more distant bays and enabled strikes on maritime targets that were previously out of reach.
Looking ahead, the president set concrete production targets. He urged manufacturers and state bodies to ensure that by year-end at least 50% of weapons in use at the front are Ukrainian-made.
“The task for manufacturers, for the Government of Ukraine, for all institutions involved is that by the end of the year no less than 50 percent of the weapons at the front must be our Ukrainian weapons,” he said, calling the goal both achievable and essential.
Zelensky also stressed the need to accelerate development of specific capabilities — interceptor drones to shoot down incoming “shaheds,” expanded ammunition lines, and an indigenous ballistic-missile capability. “This is one of the key security tasks for the state and for all enterprises and people responsible specifically for Ukraine’s missile program,” he said, framing domestic ballistic capability as a long-term security guarantee.
Financing and international cooperation figured centrally in the address. Zelensky thanked key partners — singling out the Netherlands — and argued Ukraine requires more investment and joint production projects to unlock its full industrial potential. He announced plans to create an export framework, provisionally titled “Zbroya,” to enable Ukraine to sell surplus systems abroad and use proceeds to fund high-priority defence production at home.
“It is time to start exporting our Ukrainian weapons — those types we have in surplus and can therefore export, to finance the types of weapons that are especially needed today here, in Ukraine, for our defense,” he said.
The president framed the expansion of joint manufacturing and export platforms as a practical means of integrating Ukraine into Western industrial networks while attracting foreign capital. He said work is already underway to launch export-import platforms in Europe, the United States and the Middle East and urged that these be operational by the end of the year.
Zelensky closed by returning to a familiar theme: Ukrainians are not a warlike people, but they will defend their homeland.
“Ukrainians have courage. We have potential,” he said, thanking manufacturers, partners and forum participants for their role in building Ukraine’s defence industry.
