Ukraine and France are negotiating a license for SCALP missiles to be produced in Ukraine, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov revealed, adding that Kyiv is making progress in the talks.
France's SCALP cruise missiles are equivalent to the British Storm Shadow, with a range of up to 250 km.
Paris first agreed to transfer them to Ukraine in July 2023, at the NATO summit in Vilnius. Since then, Kyiv has deployed SCALP missiles in strikes against targets in Russia and occupied Crimea.
"There is indeed progress but it is still too early to say, because it is a difficult process regarding intellectual property in general, the opening of production and so on, there is a certain bureaucracy in this regard," Fedorov said.
He also said the talks were initiated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron earlier in June “and now the conversation continues with both the government and the company in this regard, all the details are being clarified."
