Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's trip to Istanbul on Friday, March 8, was as swift as it was unexpected, with a visit to the Tuzla shipyards, where corvettes are being built for the Ukrainian navy; talks with business leaders from the military-industrial sector and; at the end of the day, a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The meeting between the two presidents, at Dolmabahce Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus, comes at a time when Ukraine is sorely lacking in ammunition and anti-aircraft defenses. Kyiv's allies are seeking to acquire some 800,000 rounds of ammunition and shells from non-European countries to resupply the Ukrainian army, which is losing ground, particularly in the Donbas.
Time is running out, and there is great fear that Russian troops will be able to break through Ukraine's defenses by summer. "Dripping aid drop by drop" to Ukraine is no longer working, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Vilnius on Friday. "If things continue as they currently happen, it's not going to end well for all of us" he warned, calling for "an unrestricted and timely supply of all types of weapons and ammunition to ensure that Ukraine beats Russia, and the war in Europe does not spill over."
Traveling to Istanbul with his defense minister, Rustem Umerov, Zelensky was counting on the support of Turkey, to which his country is linked by a military partnership. "We are currently working on the joint production of weapons and ammunition to strengthen our region," he explained at the joint press conference, acknowledging the presence in Ukraine of "representatives of Turkish companies."
In January, executives from the privately-owned Baykar company, which manufactures the Bayraktar TB2 drone, widely used by Ukrainians against Russians at the start of the conflict, inaugurated a factory to manufacture these aircraft on the outskirts of Kyiv. Moscow was quick to declare the site a "legitimate target" for Russian aircraft, as Dmitry Belik, an MP from Russia's ruling party, was quoted on February 7 by the online media outlet Lenta.
For its part, Turkey is ready to supply Ukraine with 155 mm shells as part of the purchasing platform set up by European allies to buy the ammunition that Ukrainian forces are lacking. Since the beginning of the conflict, Kyiv has received combat drones and troop transport vehicles from its Turkish partner. In December 2023, a new drone, Anka-3, jointly produced by the state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and the Ukrainian company Ivchenko-Progress, made its maiden flight.
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