Canadian Minister of National Defense Bill Blair announced a new military aid package to the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the 21st meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group, aka Ramstein-21. The commitment includes funds for procurement of drones and ammunition.
Specifically, $3 million are allocated as donation to Ukraine's domestic manufacturers of unmanned systems. "This marks the first time that Canada is contributing directly to the production of military drones in Ukraine, and this donation will be made in collaboration with the United Kingdom," reads the statement from the Canadian defense ministry.
Read more: Long-Range Weapons, Air Defense, Artillery: Key Priorities Announced for Ukraine at Ramstein Meeting
Defense Express points out that the donation of money to Ukrainian manufacturers is an extremely rare occasion, the only precedent was just a week ago, on April 16th when Denmark invested DKK 200 million into the Ukrainian defense industry. What kind of products would be manufactured with this money was not disclosed.
The role of the United Kingdom in the Canadian commitment is unclear. Yesterday during the Ramstein meeting, British Minister of Defense Grant Shapps briefed about the earlier announced largest-to-date £500 million ($620 mln) military aid package which includes, among other things, funds to "support a scale-up in domestic defense supply chains."
Additionally, Ottawa will send 100 more SkyRanger R70 multi-mission UAVs, bringing the total number to 900 committed. Also, $13 million from Canada will go to the Czech-run Ukraine Fund, an international effort aiming to buy artillery ammunition.
On a separate note, during the Ramstein-21 conference, Norway also stepped up with NOK 150 million ($13.6 mln) to fund repairs for Leopard 2 main battle tanks in Poland. Finland reported on an ongoing "long-term plan for support to Ukraine," as announced by the Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen.
Read more: What Is This Long-Range Weaponry from the US That "Didn't Work" in Ukraine?
