Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultkvist has admitted that the kingdom will produce weapons for Ukraine. “I don’t rule it out, but it’s too early to say,” he said in an interview with SVT on Thursday, August 11, commenting on the results of the donor conference for Ukraine, which took place that day in Copenhagen.

At a conference attended by heads of defense departments from 17 countries, three main areas of long-term support to Ukraine were identified – military training, mine clearance and weapons production. “We’re involved in all three areas, but then we’ll see how it goes,” Hultqvist said, adding that Stockholm could expand its participation in the Ukrainian military’s training program in the UK.

Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic are ready to help with weapons production

According to the Swedish minister, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic have already expressed interest in producing weapons for Ukraine. “We are talking about using production lines in different countries to produce weapons that can be supplied directly to Ukraine,” Hultqvist said. “We expect the conflict to continue and, therefore, we believe that the deliveries made so far should complement direct production.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden has supplied Kyiv with several arms shipments. In particular, in March, Stockholm announced the dispatch of 5,000 anti-tank weapons. At the same time, the authorities announced the transfer of protective equipment, drones and binoculars to the Ukrainian side. In early June, Sweden decided to send anti-ship missiles, anti-tank weapons and 12.7 mm rifles, including ammunition, to Ukraine.