Ukrainian Minister of Defense Denys Shmyhal meets with Natalka Cmoc, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, held a meeting with Natalka Cmoc, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine today. This was confirmed today by MOD Shmyhal over on telegram.
He provided this readout:
“Held a meeting with the Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine, Natalka Cmoc.
I thanked Canada for its unwavering support and important assistance from the first days of the full-scale Russian aggression.Focused on developing cooperation in the defense industry sector.
Canada is already participating in the "Danish model" – an extremely effective mechanism for supporting Ukraine. We discussed new initiatives that will strengthen Ukrainian warriors. Canada is preparing a contribution to the PURL initiative, which helps Ukraine receive US weapons and technologies.
The possibility of supporting the production of Ukrainian long-range drones, which have already demonstrated high efficiency, is also being considered.
Separately presented to the Canadian side the Defence City mechanism – a special legal regime for developing the defense ecosystem in Ukraine.
Together with Canada, we are strengthening Ukraine's defense capability and building a foundation for lasting and sustainable peace.”
Its always great to see the work being done to bolster our relationship with Ukraine. Canada has recently committed to providing nearly$2 billion in new military support and the disbursement of a $2.3 billion loan through the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans mechanism in support of Ukraine's war against Russian aggression.
There isnt much new information here that we didnt know. I don't think ive seen PURL mentioned much in the Canadian context. For those that dont know PURL stands for Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, a priority list of goods and equipment, primarily from the United States, set by Ukraine that the EU/Canada can support through funding, typically in 500m packages.
It was one of the compromises set out by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and US President Donald Trump for funding US sourced equipment for Ukraine without relying on direct US funding. I have yet to hear it mentioned in the Canadian context much before, so its interesting to see it given mention.
Another Unique thing brought up is Cooperation in the development of Long-Range Drones and Ukrainian promotion of the ‘Defence City’ concept. This concept is currently making its ways through several seperate bills in the Verkhovna Rada, the aim of which is to bolster and help promote growth in Ukraines defence industry.
The ‘Defence City’ will provide certain, approved companies greater support and freedom through things like Tax Breaks such as income tax breaks if companies choose to reinvest funds into expanding production, as well as exemptions from certain land and enviornmental taxes.
Customs rules are also being loosened and a new export license is being introduced (with a fee) to allow larger defence companies to begin exporting abroad. There will also be a new system put in place for the selling of defence technologies and the establishment of production overseas, subject to approval.
New legal protections are also being introduced to protect company data, as well as a new relocation mechanism to support companies who have to move production to new regions of Ukraine deemed safer. You can read a good rundown here on the whole lost of changes. Theres quite a few.
I find the timing all very interesting, especially with Defence City mocing through the pipeline. This also isnt the first we're hearing of such concepts. Mark Carney, in one of his first calls as Prime Minister, discussed the topic of Canadian-Ukrainian defence cooperation with President Zelensky.
Zelensky has given us some insight into this, including mention of Joint production for “EW Systems, Long-Range Missiles, and Drones” before. Obviously, these kinds of talks happen all the time, and I wouldnt be getting overly hyped. However it is something I will be keeping track on, especially as Defence City moves through the pipeline.
Certainly there is interest, and the opportunity presents an interesting one for us to look at. Perhaps a full substack? Maybe!