The Russian military is heavily reliant on Ukrainian factories. This is a big (and overdue) step.
KIEV, June 17. /ITAR-TASS/.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has banned military cooperation with Russia in a move which experts said would affect 79 Ukrainian and 859 Russian defense firms.
Parliament-appointed First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema told ICTV on Monday evening that Poroshenko issued the order at a session of the Council of National Security and Defense earlier in the day. “From that day on, we practically ceased any cooperation in the military-industrial sphere with the Russian Federation,” he said.
Yarema reminded that earlier parliament-appointed Verkhovna Rada Speaker Oleksadnr Turchynov had signed the decree ordering to stop military cooperation with Russia and supplies of weapons to Russia. However, the document allowed cooperation in the production of dual-purpose goods such as helicopter engines.