Türkiye and Belgium want to join drone coalition for Ukraine

Türkiye and Belgium have expressed their intention to join the drone coalition operating within the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

Source: Latvia’s Defence Ministry, which co-chairs the drone coalition, as reported by European Pravda

Details: At the drone coalition summit on Wednesday, Latvian Defence Minister Andris Sprūds announced that Türkiye and Belgium had expressed their intention to join the coalition.

The minister also noted that the coalition’s member countries have jointly contributed about €180 million to a joint procurement fund managed by the United Kingdom, the other leader of the drone coalition.

This fund is intended for the centralised procurement of unmanned technology along with national support measures from each member country of the coalition, the Latvian Ministry of Defence reports.

Latvia itself has announced its intention to allocate €20 million to the coalition in 2025 for the purchase of drones, and another €10 million for cooperation projects between Latvian and Ukrainian industry.

Since the drone coalition was created in February 2024, its member states have provided significant support to Ukraine. In 2024 alone, this support reached €1.8 billion, and is expected to reach €2.75 billion in 2025.

The drone coalition is currently made up of 18 countries, so the addition of Belgium and Türkiye will bring the total to 20. This step requires separate approval by the current participants.

Background:

• In March, the drone coalition allocated €20 million to purchase tactical reconnaissance drones for Ukraine.
• Norway, as was recently announced, has agreed to Ukraine's request to allocate a greater portion of its support funds this year to the production of Ukrainian drones.

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