Foreign investments help Ukraine's defence industry grows sixfold – US Secretary of State

Ukraine's defence industry has grown approximately sixfold over the last couple of years, which was made possible largely thanks to foreign investments. Source: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press-conference in Kyiv on 11 September, as reported by Ukrinform news agency Details: "Ukraine's defense industrial base has increased six times over the last couple of years.  That's the result of tremendous investment that a number of us have made," Blinken said.

He said that, crucially, this "also sets up Ukraine for the long term". " Because one measure of success, one measure of Ukraine's success is going to be its capacity to stand strongly on its own feet militarily as well as economically and democratically," Blinken explained.

He stressed that investment in the defence industrial base is "the best way to guarantee that there's not a repeat of Russia aggression, that Ukraine has the capacity to deter aggression and, if necessary, to defend against it".

Blinken said he hoped companies around the world would "see Ukraine as a very attractive place for investment, even with the ongoing aggression".

Background: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy were in Kyiv on 11 September to discuss the situation on the front, Ukraine's current needs, the possibility of granting Ukraine permission to strike targets in Russia using US- and UK-supplied weapons, and other issues with top Ukrainian officials.

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