Ukrainian companies manufacture long-range missiles, drones as well as other weapons. As the Ukrainian government lacks sufficient funds to purchase arms from its own industry, the country's defense sector could potentially sell weapons abroad.

Currently, however, Ukrainian law does not allow for this.

"The sale of weapons and military equipment is simply prohibited," noted Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Network (NGRN). "Besides, we need all of it on the front lines. So it's hard to imagine that any surplus ammunition would go to Estonia or some other country instead of the front. It's not reasonable."

Estonia has been exploring options for purchasing ammo from Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, meanwhile, is currently discussing amending the law in question.

According to Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform), it may be possible to purchase the necessary arms by way of intergovernmental agreement.

"If the Ukrainians have something that may interest us, then we could conclude a government-to-government agreement in which the Ukrainians would start producing for us, receive advance payments, gain some sort of buffer that would allow them to further increase their production capacity," Pevkur explained.

"Of course they'd produce more ammunition for their own armed forces too, but with a bit of a delay for us – whether that's six months or 10-12 months," he continued. "But it's not like we'd be able to get anything much faster from elsewhere on the global market anyway."

The minister didn't specify exactly what Estonia is interested in, but there is also focus on products the public has never heard of. The expectation is also that any equipment has been battle-tested.

"My visit to Kyiv is coming up," he noted. "This is a normal decision-making process. But the final decision is primarily up to the commander of the EDF, who has to say whether the products the ECDI and EDF representatives saw in Ukraine – including missiles and various systems – are suitable for Estonia's defense model."

Sten Reimann, a reserve major who has spent nine years on the supervisory board of the Estonian Defense Industry Association (EKTL), said that Ukraine's defense industry is operating under wartime conditions, which has taken its toll.

"Oftentimes, development budgets are very small," Reimann said. "Deadlines are very tight. A lot of cheaper and Chinese components are also used that would be out of the question for the West. In that sense, [their] development environment isn't the best."

Next week, Pevkur will be presented by the EDF with an overview of what interests Estonia. Following that, he will meet with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Brussels. Their next meeting after that will take place in Kyiv.

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