Kyrylo Budanov: European security without the US would be ‘very dangerous’

Budanov warns Europe against security model without US involvement

Usagevpn.com – Ukraine’s growing ability to counter Russian air attacks could become an important part of Europe’s future defence partnerships, but Kyiv’s immediate priority remains protecting its own population and expanding domestic production, Kyrylo Budanov has said.

Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, described Russia’s continuing aerial campaign as an effort to wear down civilians through fear as well as physical destruction. He said attacks have claimed the lives of people across Ukrainian society, including children, women, older residents and Second World War veterans.

“Civilians are being killed – women, children, elderly people, veterans of the Second World War,” Budanov said. “It is all truly terrible, especially when children are killed.”

He characterised the strategy as terrorism intended to intimidate Ukrainians and create pressure for political concessions. When asked whether Moscow believes prolonged strikes can exhaust the country and push the government toward compromise, Budanov replied that it does.

Focus on faster drones and civilian protection

Russia has altered parts of its aerial tactics, including the use of faster jet-powered drones, changing routes and combined attacks involving several types of weapons. Budanov did not accept the view that Russia is adapting more quickly than Ukraine.

“I don’t believe that Russia, in principle, is adapting faster than we are,” he said.

Ukraine is developing technical measures intended to limit the damage caused by these attacks, with civilian safety at the centre of that work. Among the systems under development is a new generation of Ukrainian interceptor drones designed to engage Russia’s jet-powered drones.

Budanov said the interceptor technology is no longer limited to standard testing and is already being used experimentally in combat conditions. The remaining challenge is to refine the engineering and produce the systems in sufficient numbers.

“The issue is scaling up this technology,” he said. “There are still engineering improvements to be made. They intercept Russian jet-powered drones in most cases, but there is still work to do. And then there is the question of mass production.”

He expressed confidence that Ukraine could expand production before winter, a period when the consequences of attacks on civilian infrastructure can become especially severe. That assessment, Budanov said, comes from having seen both the systems themselves and the manufacturing process behind them.

“I have seen these developments, and I have seen the production,” Budanov said. “I am watching how the technological cycle is developing. They will make it in time.”

European industrial cooperation remains possible

The same defence technologies may eventually support broader industrial ties between Ukraine and European countries. Several states have already concluded cooperation arrangements with Kyiv through the Drone Deal framework, opening a path for discussions about specific products and joint development.

Budanov said countries that have entered such arrangements can continue negotiations over individual systems, including technology intended to intercept jet-powered drones. However, any export or shared-production arrangement would depend on Ukraine first meeting its own military requirements.

“We will be able to meet the demand of other countries when, first and foremost, we have met our own country’s needs for such products,” he said.

He outlined several possible models for future cooperation: joint ventures, facilities outside Ukraine staffed in part by Ukrainian engineers, and structures involving shared ownership. Such projects could be worthwhile where they offer practical advantages while leaving Ukraine as the main customer. Budanov also argued that some especially sensitive technologies should remain within Ukraine.

For European partners, he sees Ukraine’s principal contribution in its ability to turn new ideas into fielded equipment quickly and then increase output at speed.

“The speed of implementing innovation, the speed of scaling production — in other words, mass production,” Budanov said.

The experience of adapting technology under wartime pressure has made production capacity as significant as invention itself. A system that works in limited trials may have little strategic impact unless it can be made, supplied and maintained in large quantities.

“Very dangerous” option for Europe

Budanov said it remains premature to define Ukraine’s exact role in a future European security order because the wider framework has not yet been settled. Countries are still working through what that architecture should look like and which responsibilities each participant would assume once an agreement is reached.

On the prospect of a European security structure operating without the United States, he urged planners to consider every scenario but made clear that he regards such an outcome as deeply risky.

“I think those who will be developing this doctrine have to take absolutely different options into account,” he said. “But it seems to me that this is a bad option. A very bad one, very dangerous for Europe.”

His warning places Ukraine’s current fight against aerial attacks within a larger debate over Europe’s long-term security. For Kyiv, air defence innovation is not only a response to an immediate threat; it is also a demonstration of what Ukraine may be able to offer future partners once its own needs are secured.

Budanov also addressed Ukraine’s near-term financial needs, saying Kyiv can already identify how the larger share of those requirements could be covered. The broader challenge will be ensuring that financing, production and security arrangements are strong enough to sustain civilian protection while Europe’s future defence framework takes shape.