Ukraine and Latvia are working to increase joint production of drones, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on April 26 during a press conference with his Latvian counterpart Baiba Braze in Kiev, Kyiv Independent reported.
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Coalition, jointly led by the United Kingdom and Latvia, was established in January to bolster Ukraine's arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In addition to the founding countries, seven countries have joined the alliance, including Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia and Denmark.
"Of course, I thank Latvia for its leading role in the UAV coalition. We are now working together to increase this production. We need more drones. Ukrainian and Latvian companies can really do a lot," Kuleba said.
The Latvian minister also reportedly met with employees of one of the Ukrainian thermal power plants to learn about their needs.
Moscow has recently stepped up its missile and drone strikes on Ukraine's critical infrastructure, destroying several of the country's thermal power plants, including the plant in Tripilia, a major supplier of electricity to the Kiev, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy regions.
Braze said that the Latvian state-owned company Latvenergo would hand over a 215 MW generator to Ukraine to cover its energy needs.
Latvia has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since the start of the full-scale war. The country's prime minister, Evika Silina, recently said that Riga's military aid to Kiev amounts to 392 million euros, including a defence aid package due in April.
On 24 April, Latvian Defence Minister Andris Sprouds said that the drone purchase coalition had raised more than €500 million to buy drones for Kiev.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics also recently signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement. / BGNES
