Latvia could become one of the first states with which Ukraine implements a new model of defence cooperation – not just between businesses, but also at the level of governments and armed forces.

What Ukrainian defence companies expect from European partners, whether opening exports and attracting investment is enough, and how to build this cooperation effectively – all of this was discussed at the Defence, Energy & Infrastructure, Technologies panel discussion held on April 24 as part of the Ukrainian-Latvian forum. The panel was moderated by Tetyana Nikolayenko, strategic defence expert at Ukraine Facility Platform.

Opening exports and attracting investment alone are not sufficient conditions for full-scale cooperation. The foundation must be a political decision at the state level.

Ukraine and Latvia signed a security agreement in 2024 – meaning political will has already been established. Over the past two weeks, Ukraine has been signalling its readiness to make decisions on joint ventures at the government level first, and only then at the business level. And experience shows that without active engagement from partner countries' defence ministries, progress is unlikely.

Three things Latvia can offer Ukrainian defence businesses, as outlined by Ihor Fomenko, Head of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine:

  1. Access to financing. Lending rates and advance payments from state customers cannot provide even 70% capacity utilisation. In 2024–2025, the industry operated at 37–40% of capacity; the first quarter of 2026 was even lower. As an EU and NATO member, Latvia can open broader access for Ukrainian companies to programmes such as EDIP, EDF, and SAFE.
  2. Access to high-tech solutions that strategic partners are not always willing to transfer directly. Latvia can obtain these faster and with less bureaucracy, then jointly adapt them with the Ukrainian side to meet real battlefield needs – combining NATO's technological developments with Ukraine's experience in scaling and frontline application.
  3. Establishing a hub for developing defence solutions to be further scaled across other NATO countries.

Innovation lies not only in equipment or software, but in how it is applied, emphasised Yurii Oshyiko, representative of Ukrainska Bronetechnika. Adapting European technologies to Ukrainian needs requires information exchange at the government level.

Western partners immediately ask what they will get in return, he noted. And here Ukraine has something to offer – proven combat experience and an understanding of technological trends that no one else possesses.

The interaction between Ukraine and Latvia remains asymmetric: the scale of Ukraine's defence industry and business is incomparably larger than Latvia's, noted Glen Grant, British defence expert and former military attaché to the Baltic states. Many Ukrainian companies simply will not find a suitable partner in Latvia – the market is too small.

However, this is no reason to stop trying. For those who manage to establish themselves in Latvia, a relatively straightforward path opens to broader cooperation within NATO.

How to encourage interested states to work together on building collective defence capacity – taking into account regional and national interests as well as Ukraine's experience – is explained by the Partnership Architecture for Collective Security (PACS) concept, presented by Olga Khoroshylova, coordinator of the Defence Industry sector at Ukraine Facility Platform, at the Kyiv Security Forum.