In the United States, they consider the joint production of weapons in Ukraine with caution - the State Department
According to the official, the Pentagon pushes US defense contractors to expand cooperation with Ukrainian colleagues, but the process of concluding transactions is slower than with European companies. He added that the industry is interested in such agreements, but they must be economically justified and there is a question of funding. The State Department Representative noted that Northrop Grumman has recently announced plans to produce ammunition in Ukraine.
It is the first public agreement between the US company and Ukraine to produce weapons in the country. However, US companies are concerned about the safety of their employees and facilities in the war zone - they do not want their businesses to strike. There are also concerns about corruption in the defense-industrial sphere of Ukraine. In addition, companies evaluate local and regional markets that can survive the war.
"There should be an economic justification for what they are trying to do, so we look at the opportunity to start with maintenance, repair and major repairs, the production of spare parts, that is, to start with philosophy like" crawl-to-sweat "before moving to advanced technologies ", - the official said. Another important issue is the presence of political risks insurance that provides financial protection for investments in Ukraine.
Companies, both American and European, want to be sure of such insurance and financing their projects. The US Government actively supports cooperation with Ukraine and has created a special group with agreements with Ukraine to consult and resolve issues that arise. The US official stressed that the involvement of the Ukrainian industry for repair of equipment transmitted by Western allies or the production of spare parts will be profitable for both governments and industry of both countries.