French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Friday that three French defense companies intend to start production in Ukraine this summer.

"Three French companies will establish partnerships with Ukrainian companies, especially in the field of drones and equipment for the ground forces, for the production of spare parts in Ukraine, and possibly ammunition in the future," Western media quoted the minister as saying.

"The goal is to get the first production units this summer," he explained.

According to him, among these companies, most likely, will be the Franco-German defense consortium KNDS, formed by the French manufacturer of arms and military equipment Nexter and the German engineering company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG.