Ukraine relying on increased weapons production abroad
Rustem Umerov said there is also interest in having Ukrainian arms companies manufacture newly developed systems outside the country. He made his comments after a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group - also known as the Ramstein Group - in Brussels.
These weapons should be delivered to Ukraine for the duration of the war, he added.
Umerov, who reported on the meeting's outcomes together with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and the British Secretary of Defence John Healey, said: "We will build drones, missiles, ammunition and other weapons together. Ukrainian drones have changed the battlefield. And now they will change how Ramstein countries prepare for future threats."
He added that the joint production represents a strategic shift.
Pistorius had already promised increased efforts for more air defence systems and electromagnetic warfare before the meeting, namely protection and disruption of communication and weapon deployments. Other countries are participating in these initiatives.
Healey condemned the ongoing Russian attacks on cities and civilians in Ukraine despite peace efforts: "Ukraine, the United States, all of us here are calling for a ceasefire. We are for peace. Putin continues the war, so the work of this contact group becomes even more important. We must step up. We must never step back."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
23 minutes ago
- New York Post
How the Hunter Biden cover-up continues to this day
In the same week that Hunter Biden burst back onto the public stage to play the victim and lash out at Democrats, we also heard from his one time protector turned reluctant nemesis, Special Counsel David Weiss, with similarly self serving and disingenuous testimony to Congress. Weiss, the former US Attorney in the Bidens' home state of Delaware who presided over the troubled five year investigation into the former First Son, told the House Judiciary Committee that there just wasn't enough evidence to justify charging Hunter under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). His investigators 'couldn't put together a sufficient case,' he said in June testimony released last week. Advertisement That's pretty rich, considering that those very IRS investigators complained bitterly about the obstruction and slow walking they faced on Weiss' watch every time they pursued an investigative trail that led to Joe Biden and the lucrative foreign lobbying Hunter did in his father's name. That's why IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Special Agent Joseph Ziegler blew up their successful careers and became whistleblowers. Hunter's business model during his father's vice presidency and beyond revolved around foreign lobbying — including for the corrupt Ukrainian energy company Burisma that was paying him a million dollars a year, Chinese government-linked firms BHR and CEFC, and an oligarch client in Romania. Advertisement In fact, the very first email this newspaper published from Hunter's infamous laptop was from a Burisma executive, thanking him for arranging a meeting with his father the previous night. It wasn't just any old meeting, either. Hunter had invited VP Biden to a private dinner at Georgetown restaurant Cafe Milano in April 2015 to meet his partners from Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan, as his former 'best friend in business' Devon Archer told Congress. In their upcoming tell-all book, 'The Whistleblowers v the Big Guy,' Shapley and Ziegler point out that, along with that Burisma bombshell, emails and communications they recovered from the laptop showed that Hunter's relationship with DC lobbying shop Blue Star Strategies was tied to his position on the Burisma board and that the firm had been hired 'to influence U.S. government officials on Burisma's behalf.' Advertisement 'These connections raised red flags about potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act FARA and any comprehensive warrant would naturally include references to individuals who may have been involved, even tangentially.' And so, when their team drafted a search warrant related to potential FARA violation, Weiss' top U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf ordered them to remove all references to 'Political Figure 1,' the DOJ pseudonym for Joe Biden. 'Please focus on FARA evidence only. There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here,' Wolf wrote in an August 2020 email, according to their whistleblower testimony to Congress. Advertisement Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! Whenever their investigations might lead to Joe Biden they found subpoenas were denied, interviews were canceled or not allowed, and Hunter's lawyers were tipped off before search warrants could be executed. Prosecutors cited bad 'optics' or questioned whether the 'juice was worth the squeeze' For instance, Shapley testified that Wolf refused to approve a search warrant for a guest house Hunter had been staying in on Joe's palatial Delaware estate as part of FARA-related evidence collection. When they discovered incriminating WhatsApp messages Hunter wrote to a business partner at Chinese energy company CEFC on July 30, 2017, citing his father, the investigators were blocked from using phone location data to confirm that Joe really was in the room. 'I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,' Hunter wrote, demanding $10 million. 'I am very concerned that the Chairman has either changed his mind and broken our deal without telling me or that he is unaware of the promises and assurances that have been made have not been kept.' Advertisement Hunter also threatened that his father would retaliate if the Chinese did not do as he commanded: 'I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.' Here was Hunter explicitly claiming his father was involved in his business negotiations. Apart from the fact that Joe claimed that he knew nothing about his son's overseas business dealings, Shapley and Ziegler decided there were serious tax implications to the conversation, but they were blocked from pursuing them. They weren't even allowed to find out if Hunter had sent the message from Joe's house. 'The message was clear,' Shapley and Ziegler write in 'The Whistleblowers v. the Big Guy.' 'Although we were investigating Joe Biden's son — who, it seemed, had often involved his father in his shady overseas business dealings — none of our materials were supposed to mention Joe Biden. Advertisement 'Even when we needed material that might be in one of Joe Biden's homes or storage units, we couldn't mention him. The document might leak to the press, and that would make the Biden campaign look bad. 'And in the summer of 2020, there was nothing that the leadership of the FBI wanted less than to make Joe Biden look bad. Doing so might help elect Donald Trump for a second time.' How different was the way the FBI handled Donald Trump compared to Joe Biden. Whether it was the fake Steele Dossier the FBI treated as if it were legitimate evidence, or the raid on Mar a Lago, there was no concern about the 'optics' of investigating a sitting president or presidential candidate when it was Trump. Advertisement As for FARA, the once little-used law against lobbying the US on behalf of foreign interests has been selectively used to target Trump allies and Democrat enemies. For example, Paul Manafort, former chairman of Trump's 2016 campaign, was charged with FARA. So, too, was Gal Luft, the original Hunter Biden whistleblower, who told FBI and DOJ officials in a March 2019 secret meeting in Brussels that Hunter and his uncle Jim Biden were on the payroll of the Chinese. His accurate information was buried and then, one week before Republicans took back the House in 2022, Luft was charged with FARA and other violations. He is currently languishing in jail in Cyprus while Hunter escaped scot free. Advertisement In the last days of his presidency, Joe issued a uniquely tailored pardon for his son, stretching back 11 years and covering Hunter's conviction on gun charges and guilty plea on felony tax evasion charges that Weiss was forced to press after the sweetheart plea deal he'd stitched together with Hunter's lawyers fell apart in the wake of Shapley and Ziegler's revelations. In the end, Weiss forced the IRS to remove Shapley and Ziegler from the investigation as soon as he suspected Shapley had blown the whistle. The Office of Special Counsel last year determined that the IRS had illegally retaliated against the pair by removing them from the investigation after they made protected disclosures to Congress about DOJ interference in the probe. All the obstruction and interference and slow walking past statutes of limitation happened under the benign leadership of David Weiss. So spare us his mealy mouthed justifications for squibbing what should have been the most consequential political corruption investigation in history.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump Trashed in Scotland's Biggest Newspaper: 'Menace'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump's visit to Scotland has drawn intense criticism from Scotland's largest newspaper, The Daily Record, which called him a "menace" in an editorial while also urging U.K. leaders to pursue pragmatic engagement for the sake of long-term relations. Newsweek contacted Trump's team for a response to the report via email. Why It Matters The comments come after Scottish police have told Newsweek a "significant" operation was being planned in expectation of protests against Trump during his time in Scotland, where he will visit his newest golf course. In 2018, thousands of protesters gathered when Trump visited his Scottish golf courses during his first term. President Donald Trump reacts as he plays a round of golf at Trump Turnberry golf course on July 27, 2025 in Turnberry, Scotland. President Donald Trump reacts as he plays a round of golf at Trump Turnberry golf course on July 27, 2025 in Turnberry, Scotland. Getty Images What To Know On the eve of Trump's five-day trip to Scotland, The Daily Record published a strong editorial criticizing his actions. The newspaper described Trump as a "menace who has caused chaos at home and abroad," referencing his refusal to accept defeat in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, perceived support for protesters involved in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and his public statements regarding foreign leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The editorial also said that Trump's status as a "convicted felon" was contributing to Scottish protesters' outrage. Despite these criticisms, the paper urged leaders such as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scotland's First Minister John Swinney to maintain engagement with Trump for economic and diplomatic reasons, citing decades-long U.S.-UK security ties and potential leverage on international issues such as tariffs and foreign conflicts. What People Are Saying Sarah Malone, executive vice president of Trump International, said in a press release sent to Newsweek: "The Trump family has a deep affection for Scotland, not only as the home of golf, but as the ancestral home of President Trump's beloved mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. We are therefore delighted to confirm that we are planning the creation of a memorial garden in honor of Mary Anne MacLeod as a fitting tribute to her name and legacy." Born on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, MacLeod moved to the U.S. in 1930 and became a naturalized citizen in March 1942. What Happens Next Trump's visit is expected to draw protests throughout Scotland, as noted by The Daily Record. U.K. and Scottish leaders face the challenge of balancing domestic opposition to Trump's policies and character with the need to maintain and potentially strengthen critical U.S.-UK relationships.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
'Donaldddddd': Foreign leaders schmooze Trump on his personal cell
Those leaders include French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who Trump will meet for a round of golf in Scotland on Monday, according to the person and two others familiar with the calls. The three, like others in this story, were granted anonymity to discuss private talks. The informality of these conversations, although hardly different from the off-the-cuff style Trump often showcases in public settings, can still be striking to aides listening on the other end of the line. A person familiar with one of the president's conversations with Macron recalled the two leaders 'bro-ing out' as they greeted one another. 'It was oddly amusing — Trump would say 'Emmanuellllll' and really draw out the l and then Macron would go, 'Donaldddddd' and draw out the d,' they recalled. 'And it sort of went back and forth.' Foreign officials credit their ability to adapt to Trump's freewheeling style to improved personal relationships, which, they say, is leading to more favorable outcomes. One European official pointed to last month's NATO leaders summit in The Netherlands where Trump announced that he'd changed his mind about the alliance after meeting with cohorts he lauded as 'great leaders.' He told reporters that he was departing feeling 'differently' and had determined that the cause of European security was 'not a rip off.' And since then he has agreed to authorize more defense aid for Ukraine so long as Europe foots the bill. 'There's less friction and more alignment in some cases,' said the European official. 'Some of that is the result of a lot of leaders being more hands-on with Trump, and, yes, more solicitous in private.'
