Ukraine has signed a 10-year defense agreement with Bulgaria, a major arms producer, covering the production of drones and other weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday.
The Ukrainian leader said he was “very pleased” with the agreement, which was signed during a visit to Kyiv by Bulgaria’s interim Prime Minister, Andrey Gyurov.
The agreement includes “joint production, on the territory of our countries, of various types of weapons, including drones,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference.
He added that the duration of the agreement will help “systematize” security cooperation, particularly in keeping pace with the rapid technological developments in drones, a key weapon in Ukraine’s war against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Bulgaria, now a member of NATO and the European Union, was part of the communist bloc during the Cold War and for decades produced ammunition and weapons based on Soviet standards, which are still used by the Ukrainian army.
