Western defense firms interested in producing weapons in Ukraine, but after war

Half a dozen defense company executives told Reuters about this during the Paris Air Show.

The agency recalled that the other day, the deputy minister for Strategic Industries said that Kyiv was in talks with defense companies from Germany, France, Italy and Eastern Europe about potential weapons production in Ukraine.

But company executives at the world's largest aerospace industry meeting told reporters that the risk is too great at this point.

“You just have to think about more broadly, the state of the situation ... and the risk associated with that co-production,” said Greg Ulmer, who leads US defense giant Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N) aeronautic business. 

Representatives of two large defense companies confirmed that they had heard about the Ukrainian initiative, and one added that his company was ready to sign a protocol of intent to discuss industrial partnership in Ukraine after the war.

“But none of those interviewed expressed an interest in investing directly while the war rages, with security the top concern,” the publication says. 

• In March, media reported that Germany’s Rheinmetall might build a tank plant in Ukraine.