KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The European Union’s top official signed an agreement Wednesday to move forward on joint weapons production with Ukraine, saying Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s 4-year-old invasion is a key part of the continent’s defense.Over the course of the war, Ukraine has gone from pleading for foreign military support to providing its cutting-edge and battle-tested weapons know-how to Europe, the United States and Middle East countries. But it still needs help expanding its domestic production, especially sophisticated air defenses that can stop Russia’s ballistic missiles.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, attending ceremonies marking Ukraine’s Statehood Day, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched a new EU-Ukraine Defense Industrial Partnership.The move reflects European worries about Russia’s broader intentions on the continent.
“Today, Ukraine’s fight is not only a fight for your own freedom. It is an existential fight for Europe’s freedoms — for its values, its self-determination,” Von der Leyen said in a speech in Kyiv’s St. Michaels’ Square, where she received Ukraine’s Order of Europe, a state honor.“You are not only fighting for your own future but for the security of our entire continent,” she told a crowd.
