MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Western allies pledged to provide funds to the country for making missiles and drones, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.

"We have developed a missile program. It is quite powerful. We already exchanged it with our partners and are waiting to see how much support they will provide to our capability to produce missiles and drones. They have already given us consent - so far a verbal one - that they will finance it. We are waiting for final written answers from our partners in the near future," Umerov said on Rada television.

On August 6, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said the country allocated additional funds for its own missile program.

In February, Ukrainian Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin said the country had developed expertise to produce missiles capable of hitting a target at a distance of 700 km.

Since Russia started the special military operation, Western countries have increased arms supplies to Ukraine manyfold. Kiev regularly asks its partners for more advanced weapons and longer-range missiles. Some analysts believe that Western leaders are cautious about Kiev's requests for long-range missiles because they do not want them to be used for Ukraine's strikes inside Russia. Zelensky said Kiev would not use Western weapons for strikes against Russia, but could use its own weapons for that purpose.