Denmark to host Ukrainian long-range missile fuel production

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -A Ukrainian weapons manufacturer will begin production of fuel for long-range missiles in Denmark, the Danish government said on Wednesday, marking the first expansion abroad by a Ukrainian defence company.

The Ukrainian company is Fire Point, maker of the Flamingo missiles, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has described as his country's most successful weapon.

In June, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was in talks on joint weapons production with Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, Britain, and Lithuania.

The fuel production will be located near Denmark's Skydstrup air force base, home to the Nordic country's fleet of F-16 fighter jets.

"It is a helping hand to Ukraine's struggle for security, their own independence and, not least, their opportunity to live in peace," Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told journalists.

Denmark has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine since Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 and has so far contributed 67.6 billion Danish crowns ($10.13 billion) in military support, according to the Danish foreign ministry.

The Danish government recently allocated 500 million crowns to support Ukrainian firms expanding in the Nordic country.

($1 = 6.3751 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Soren Jeppesen, editing by Stine Jacobsen and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen)