Romania plans to produce defense drones with Ukraine to protect NATO's eastern flank

(Patria) - Romania hopes to quickly establish the production of defense drones on its territory with Ukraine for domestic use, as well as for allies from the European Union and NATO, said Foreign Minister Oana Toiu.

Toiu told Reuters that talks with Ukraine began before a series of airspace incursions that the region has blamed on Russia in recent weeks.

"We believe it is strategically important for the eastern flank to be better protected, especially in air defense. So, what we are doing in that direction is creating the necessary partnerships, for example, with Ukraine to build defense drones for the future," she said.

"We believe in our ability to achieve this quickly," she said on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly which concluded on Monday.

Tensions with Moscow have escalated in recent weeks, as Estonia accused Russia of sending fighter jets into its airspace, and NATO planes shot down drones over Poland. Romania also announced that its planes nearly collided with a drone that entered its airspace.

Russia has stated that it has never targeted EU or NATO countries and has no plans to do so.

Drone Wall

Her remarks on joint production come as Ukraine has worked to ease restrictions on the export of its weapons, which it has used and refined on the battlefield against Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised these weapons as he addressed the UN General Assembly last week, in an effort to solidify allied support and show that support for close ties with Kyiv is a two-way street.

The European Union has supported the idea of creating a "drone wall" to protect the region. Toiu also said that Romania has approved an increased presence of US troops on its territory to support refueling operations in the Middle East, although she declined to provide figures.

Since Trump's return to power, European allies have been concerned about a potential reduction in US troops in Europe, currently around 80,000, as their concerns about Russia grow.

Romania, which borders Ukraine, hosts a number of US troops and plans to invest more than 2.5 billion euros in its Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in the coming years, expanding its capacity to accommodate 10,000 Romanian and allied soldiers.