Ukraine to buy military supplies via Nato agency

{"text":[[{"start":7,"text":"Nato will allow Ukraine to buy weapons, ammunition and military equipment via its centralised procurement agency, potentially allowing Kyiv to obtain defence supplies faster and more cheaply."}],[{"start":17.48,"text":"Ukraine is entering a partnership with the Nato Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), bringing its defence industry closer to its western allies and giving it an additional procurement channel rather than having to rely solely on bilateral negotiations."}],[{"start":30.86,"text":"“It provides Ukraine with the ability to have a more structured framework to leverage a broad range of capabilities that we offer: procurement expertise, support services and access to established industrial base,” Jacqueline Borsboom, NSPA director of support to operations, told the FT. “There will be economies of scale,” she said."}],[{"start":51.38,"text":"For example, Ukraine could say, “we need 30,000 uniforms, we want to task you to go and buy them for us,” Borsboom said."}],[{"start":59.04,"text":"The move comes despite Ukraine’s relationship with the US deteriorating to its lowest point since Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s infamous spat in the Oval Office last year. The US president has criticised Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russian oil refineries, blaming the strikes for a rise in global fuel prices ahead of US midterm elections next month."}],[{"start":79.431,"text":"US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, part of a pivot towards Russia that has alarmed Kyiv’s allies. The two men discussed a resumption of peace talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine followed by a possible summit between Trump, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month, according to Russian officials."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":100.96,"text":"The procurement announcement builds on a decision by the alliance in April to allow Ukrainian defence companies to compete in tenders to supply the NSPA, which has opened up potentially lucrative business opportunities for the country’s rapidly expanding defence industry."}],[{"start":115.12,"text":"Last week, NSPA organised an industry event in Kyiv attended by around 150 Ukrainian companies, laying out how manufacturers could register as eligible suppliers and compete for contracts."}],[{"start":127.42,"text":"Military procurement has become a political issue in Ukraine after several corruption scandals."}],[{"start":132.54,"text":"Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said he was dismissed from his role in July because his efforts to make defence contracts more transparent had provoked opposition from entrenched interests."}],[{"start":143.64,"text":"Zelenskyy said he sacked Fedorov over a long-running feud between the defence minister and the military’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrsky."}],[{"start":153.44,"text":"The latest step of bringing Ukraine closer to Nato comes as Europe pours huge amounts of money into its defence sector in the face of Russian threats. Countries including Germany are committing to increase their military spending to placate Trump, who has threatened to withdraw American military support."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":171.72,"text":"European countries are also keen to draw lessons from Ukraine’s battlefield experience."}],[{"start":177.12,"text":"Ukrainian companies have rapidly expanded production of drones and other military technologies since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, developing weapons and systems that have attracted growing interest from European governments seeking to modernise their own armed forces."}],[{"start":193.36,"text":"“Their innovation is going so fast right now that we have a lot to learn from it,” Borsboom said. “It’s definitely of mutual benefit.”"}],[{"start":201.84,"text":"Additional reporting by Fabrice Deprez in Kyiv"}],[{"start":209.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792653299_4193.mp3"}