Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reached an agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to co-produce drones designed for maritime operations, in a meeting in Athens on Sunday according to a press report from the Greek capital.
Leading Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported that during Sunday’s meeting the two countries agreed to co-produce sea drones — so-called Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) — in Greek shipyards, using technology that will also be provided by Greek companies.
The report indicates that part of the production will be deployed by the Ukrainian armed forces, while another portion will bolster Greece’s own arsenal.
For Kyiv, the deployment of USVs in the Black Sea against Russia is of major strategic importance, while Athens views them as offering a comparative advantage in the Aegean — where it has unresolved maritime disputes with Turkey, which produced its first USV in 2021.
The project is expected to be funded through Greece’s €30 billion defence budget for the period 2025–2036, with loans from Europe’s SAFE programme also under consideration.
