Canada, Ukraine to scale up military drone production

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Calgary, Alberta, on Thursday, with the two sides announcing new agreements to expand joint drone production and deepen defense and security cooperation.

Under the agreements, Canada and Ukraine will cooperate on drone development and production, including the supply of critical minerals and metals and related engineering and manufacturing. Canada will also establish a digital drone marketplace modeled after Ukraine's "Brave1" system and plans to increase its military drone fleet tenfold.

Canada also announced new aid for Ukraine, including about 350 million Canadian dollars (about $252 million) for air defense interceptors and more than 640 million Canadian dollars for energy infrastructure repair and reconstruction, according to a news release from the Prime Minister's Office.

The two leaders signed declarations on a 100-year partnership and enhanced defense and security cooperation.

Since 2022, Canada's total commitments of assistance to Ukraine have exceeded 26 billion Canadian dollars, according to the release.