Ukraine says ready to join EU ‘drone wall’ project

ISTANBUL

Ukraine is ready to participate in the European Commission-led ‘drone wall’ project and can play an active role in defending Europe against Russia’s drone threat, Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday during a joint meeting of EU and NATO officials.

Shmyhal said the meeting included EU Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, the defense ministers of Denmark, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria, and representatives of NATO.

“The ‘drone wall’ will create a fundamentally new defence ecosystem in Europe, of which Ukraine is ready to be a part,” he said on Telegram, adding that Kyiv and its partners will coordinate responses to provocations in the air and adopt the most effective solutions.

He said Kyiv expects a joint declaration with partners to be signed in October and pledged that Ukraine is prepared to send technical teams now to prepare the units that will join the project.

“Ukraine is a recognised leader in unmanned technologies. We are ready to share our experience of downing Russian drones with the EU, NATO and neighbouring countries,” Shmyhal said.

Shmyhal also flagged the participation of Ukrainian manufacturers, noting the country has innovative systems tested in practice.

Ukraine thanked the European Commission for organizing the talks and praised participants for their willingness to pool forces to defend the continent.

After recent Russian air incursions, EU countries on Thursday held their first talks on building an anti-drone defense system, with European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius stressing that "the Eastern Flank Watch, with the ‘drone wall’ as its core, will serve all of Europe."

Defense ministers from Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania attended the virtual meeting, joined by Hungary, Slovakia, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and the Danish Council Presidency. Ukraine also participated in a separate session, with NATO present as an observer.