At a press conference after Monday’s meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” in Kyiv, Zelensky stressed that Ukraine has the capacity to significantly ramp up production of long-range drones. “We have enough capacity to increase production,” he said. “We will be able to attack more.” The weapons already produced have proven their effectiveness in Ukrainian operations.
The biggest hurdle is financing. “We don’t have enough money for that,” Zelensky said, pointing to a defense funding gap of around $27 billion. Russia has massively expanded its drone campaign: from about 40 Iranian Shahed drones per day two years ago to around 500 now, and up to 1,000 during major attacks. “If we want to bring this war back to Russia and make it painful for them, so that their society feels the pressure and puts pressure on Putin, this is one of the tools to push Putin toward negotiations,” the president said.
Finnish Alexander Stubb backed Ukraine’s strategy, calling deep strikes a “sensible military strategy.” The Coalition of the Willing, led by Zelensky, Britain’s Andy Burnham, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, committed in a joint statement to urgently strengthen Ukraine’s air defense, increase military aid, and tighten sanctions against Russia’s defense industry.
Source: www.kyivpost.com
