France and Germany allowed the tank manufacturer KNDS to create a branch in Ukraine

Paris and Berlin have reached an agreement that enables the Franco-German defense company KNDS to establish a production unit in Ukraine.

This was reported by the head of the French Ministry of Defense Sébastien Lecornu.

"We are announcing that KNDS (...) a German-French company will take a foothold in Ukraine with a local unit," he said after talks with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Reuters reports.

The unit must produce spare parts and train local personnel.

In early March, Lecornu claimed that three French defense companies, including KNDS, intend to start production in Ukraine this summer.

In the middle of the month, French President Emmanuel Macron, together with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, announced that French and German companies will work with Kyiv to speed up arms production on the territory of Ukraine.

• KNDS (KMW+NEXTER Defense Systems) is the result of the merger of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter, two leading European manufacturers of land military systems based in Germany and France. KNDS manufactures main battle tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems, weapons systems, ammunition, military bridges, a wide range of equipment, provides service and more.