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Russia likely to replace Ukrainian defense component parts in three years — official

MINSK, July 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia does not plan to cut off ties with Ukraine in the sphere of defense industry, but if this happens, it will fully replace Ukrainian component parts in three years' time, the deputy chairman of the Russian governmental Military-Industrial Commission, Oleg Bochkarev, told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday.

“We are not determined to break off relations with Ukraine’s defense industry,” Bochkarev said. “Today’s political situation makes a possibility of such a break increasingly realistic.”

Bochkarev recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered to launch a program of import substitution, saying that the program had been finalized and adopted.

“We are to work closely with Belarusian colleagues on the program, and we have received interesting offers from them on about 1,500 items,” he said.

“We can obtain finished articles in Belarus to substitute for the Ukrainian products,” Bochkarev said expressing hope that “integration and pragmatism will prevail".