The United States and Ukraine have drafted a memorandum laying out the terms of a potential new defense deal that would let Kyiv export military technology to the U.S. and build drones in joint ventures with American companies.

The draft was worked out by the U.S. State Department and Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Olha Stefanishyna, according to people familiar with the talks. The move gives formal shape to a partnership Kyiv first pitched to the White House in August 2025, when Ukrainian officials began pressing for closer cooperation on drones as the war with Russia entered its fifth year.

The timing matters because Ukraine is trying to lock in buyers, partners and financing at once. Zelenskyy said nearly 20 countries are now involved at different stages of drone-related deals with Ukraine, with four agreements already signed and the first contracts under them being prepared. Ukraine also signed defense agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over the last two months, widening a network that Kyiv says is becoming central to its wartime industry.

Those deals are tied to a much bigger production push. Ukraine’s National Security Council projects a defense production capacity of $55 billion in 2026, while Yuriy Sak has said Ukraine currently has funds to buy around $15 billion worth of weapons this year. One Ukrainian manufacturer says it plans to produce more than 3 million low-cost first-person-view military drones in 2026, far above the 300,000 such drones the U.S. built in 2025.

The scale gap helps explain why Washington is now looking at Ukrainian industry as a partner rather than just a customer. In March, General Cherry signed a deal to make unmanned aerial vehicles in the U.S. alongside Wilcox Industries, and the Pentagon invited Ukrainian companies to join its Drone Dominance initiative, a $1.1 billion program aimed at identifying drones for U.S. military contracts.

That shift is rooted in what Ukraine has built during more than four years of war with Russia: a fast-moving drone and electronic warfare sector that has become one of its most competitive defense assets. Ukrainian forces have also sent drone interceptors and pilots to the Middle East to help U.S. allies defend against Iranian-designed Shahed drones, giving Kyiv’s industry a wider battlefield résumé than many Western manufacturers can match.

The unresolved question is how quickly the memorandum can turn into contracts that actually move money and technology across borders. Ukrainian officials say American financing would help both countries expand defense production output, but the draft still has to survive the usual diplomatic and industrial tests: who makes what, where it is built and how fast it can be delivered.