BERLIN, May 29. /TASS/. Germany plans to finance the production of long-range drones for Ukraine, the Die Welt newspaper reported, citing government sources.
According to the sources, financing Ukrainian long-range drones is part of the new assistance package for Ukraine, which was announced on May 28 during Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to Berlin.
In early May, Ukraine asked the German defense ministry to finance BARS and AN-196 combat drones and Flamingo-type drones, the newspaper noted, adding that this was approved by Germany. The project cost is estimated at around 400 million euro, it added.
According to the newspaper, the fact that Ukraine asks for financing the production of its drones demonstrates that this type of weapons is of crucial importance in present-day armed conflicts and Bundeswehr is building up its own drone potential.
Apart from that, Die Welt said, the new military aid package includes supplies of four IRIS-T air defense systems manufactures by Germany’s Diehl. The KNDS defense concern will receive a contract for repairs of weapons, such as Gepard systems, which will be carried out in Ukraine.
The German defense ministry said on May 28 that the new package of military aid to Ukraine will amount to five billion euro. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov have signed a deal under which Berlin will finance long-range weapons production in Ukraine. According to the German defense ministry, a significant number of long-range weapons systems should be produced in 2025, with the first of them being deployed in several weeks.
Germany is the second largest weapons supplier to Ukraine after the United States. Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, it has provided Kiev with support worth around 44 billion euro. The Russian side had repeatedly warned that flooding the Kiev regime with weapons only protracts the conflict.