Air defense systems and artillery rounds are among Ukraine’s top priorities.

Vladyslav Belbas, CEO of Ukrainian Armor, a manufacturer of armored vehicles and weapons, said this on the sidelines of the first annual US-Ukraine Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C., co-organized by the National Association of Ukrainian Defense Industries (NAUDI).

“Air defense systems, artillery, and the third is everything else,” said Belbas, answering the question about the top three most urgent weapons for Ukraine.

Discussing cooperation and interaction in the production of defense products between Ukrainian and American companies, he noted that the most urgent issue is the production of artillery rounds. “Ukraine has no gunpowder, and the Americans do not have the technology to produce Soviet gunpowder.”

According to him, the solution to this issue may be as follows: “What is important in gunpowder is the energy it provides, the burning rate. It can be selected from, for example, American gunpowder, but this is a certain research and development work. It is possible to go in the direction of mastering production, but these are different technologies: Soviet-standard and NATO-standard.”

Commenting on the first results of the US-Ukraine Freedom Summit, he noted that he was impressed by the number of meetings on possible cooperation and the interest of the American side. “The level of representation is top positions in large corporations, and the focus on cooperation is different even than it was six months ago,” said Belbas.