KYIV, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine and the European Union reached an agreement on strengthening defense cooperation.
According to the statement made by the Ukrainian Presidency Press Service, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Ukraine, signed a letter of intent regarding the strategic defense industry partnership on Wednesday.
Von der Leyen, who came to Ukraine earlier in the day to attend the 5th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit, said in her meeting with Zelenskiy that the EU and Ukraine would further strengthen their cooperation in the field of defense, including unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) production.
Emphasizing that the financial, political and defense support provided by the EU to Ukraine has reached a record level, Von der Leyen announced that 1 billion euros of financing was released to strengthen Ukraine's UAV capacity within the scope of the 90 billion euro Ukraine Support Loan.
Zelenskiy and Von der Leyen also discussed in detail the activities aimed at opening four sets of negotiation chapters in Ukraine's EU membership negotiations.
"This is an indicator of the determination of Ukraine and Europe until Ukraine's full membership in the EU is achieved," Zelenskiy said.