Ukraine could suspend defense cooperation with Russia under West's pressure – Kyiv

17:35, 11.04.2014 1 min read

The Ukrainian government is drafting measures to compensate for losses to defense and space companies due to a suspension of its cooperation with Russia, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema said.

A large number of Ukrainian defense companies involved in military-technical cooperation, including with Russia, are based in the southeastern region, he said at Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk's meeting with senior officials in Dnipropetrovsk on Friday.

The problem of industrial and military-technical cooperation with Russia in the context of events around Crimea was discussed at a recent government meeting attended by representatives from Ukroboronprom (the Ukrainian defense consortium) and Ukraine's State Space Agency, Yarema said.

"Our partners in western countries demand a halt of this cooperation," the deputy prime minister said.

"We are now working actively to ensure the effect of this suspension on these enterprises is as low as possible," Yarema said.