Zaluzhny: lack of technology, funding prevents Ukraine from seizing initiative from Russia
Ukrainian companies are capable of promptly responding to battlefield needs and developing new types of weaponry based on real combat experience, but state funding for defense innovation in Ukraine is limited, which is why private investment can and must become a mutually beneficial solution for both sides, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the UK and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2021–2024) Valeriy Zaluzhny notes.
"Ukrainian companies are capable of promptly responding to battlefield needs and developing new types of weaponry based on real combat experience. No other country can offer more relevant experience for developing new arms, modernization, and tactics for their application. However, the lack of technology and funding prevents seizing the initiative from Russia and its partners," Zaluzhnyi said during a speech at the Defence & Resilience Tech Scale Up Showcase in London, the text of which was published in his column on the Interfax-Ukraine agency's website on Thursday.
He called on Ukraine's partners to increase financial and technological investments in arms production in Ukraine, not only to reduce Russia's military potential, but also to strengthen their own defense capabilities.
"State funding for defense innovation in Ukraine is limited. Therefore, private investments can and must become a beneficial solution for both sides. Creating clear mechanisms for cooperation with Great Britain at the institutional level will help attract private capital, technologies, and ultimately create new markets and develop long-term cooperation between the defense industries of Ukraine and its partners," the diplomat said.
Zaluzhnyi stated that Ukraine has gained significant experience in drone production, but the component base, and especially its production, currently remains outside Ukraine, which precludes possibilities for scaling and modernization in the long term, "where marketing gives way to strategy and the outline of victory finally becomes visible." "Even now, these investments are vital in countering urgent threats such as ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones," the former Commander-in-Chief emphasized.
He noted that achieving victory or a dignified peace requires systemic impact on Russia's ability to continue the war, rather than isolated technological solutions.
"Systemic impact means implementing strategies to achieve the main goal: victory over the enemy. Naturally, building such a systemic impact is possible only with appropriate strategies. These strategies must be based on implementing financial and technological policies that enable producing today what is needed tomorrow, or better yet, the day after tomorrow. And what is needed today should be taken from storage facilities as something produced yesterday. Defense production must be part of a war strategy, not the other way around, where war is made to justify someone's promises and profits. Only in this way is it possible to seize the initiative, impose one's will on the enemy, and demand terms from them," Zaluzhny concluded.