Ukraine makes weapons ‘faster and cheaper’ than the rest of Europe: Danish Prime Minister

• Ukraine can make weapons “faster and cheaper” than elsewhere in Europe, the Prime Minister of Denmark said.
• “We have a problem, friends, if one place in the war can produce faster than the rest of us,” Mette Frederikssen at the Munich Security Conference said.
• Europe’s defense costs have increased in recent years, but problems remain.

The Prime Minister of Denmark has said that Ukraine is able to produce “faster and cheaper” weapons than anywhere else in Europe despite being at war, something she said should alert the West.

Speaking on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, attended by Business Insider, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiqse warned that Europe should increase production efforts by going forward, working with the US to do it.

“We have a problem, friends, if a country in the war can produce faster than the rest of us,” she said. “I am not saying we are in wartime, but we cannot say that we are in peacetime. So we must change our opinion.”

Fredericks added that Europe needed “an emergency sense” and should reduce legislation and bureaucracy to ensure that Ukraine “will take what they need, but also to ensure that we are able to protect ourselves.”

Since Russia began its full -scale occupation of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine has increased the production of indoor weapons, producing a growing number of home -made products such as missiles, howitzers and drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said that 30% of Ukraine military equipment used in 2024 was made inside the country.

Denmark has run a major project to make more weapons in Ukraine, giving FrederiKSEN a special overview of Ukraine production efforts.

While Fredericks did not show specific figures, the Ukraine defense industry has flourished, matching or even exceeding Europe in some areas.

The widespread use of drones on the battlefield has seen Ukraine become a leader in drone production, with Kyiv saying that the country produced more than 1.5 million drones overlooking first persons in 2024.

Ukraine also said he made 2.5 million mortar and artillery shells from January to November 2024, while the EU said it would make about 2 million artillery shells in 2025.

Europe has significantly increased spending and protection production in recent years, but some officials say much more needs to be done.

Dovil Šakaliene, Minister of Defense Lithuanian, told Business Insider in Munich that “Europe must increase our protective costs very quickly and very significantly to be able to stay on a basis equal to the United States.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also addressed the issue over the weekend, saying: “Critics are right that we need to do more and that we have done very little in the years before, very little.”

Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, has also often called on European members of the Alliance to increase military spending.

Speaking in Munich, he said SH.BA was “right” to think “we have to grow, we have to spend more”.

He added how the US and Europe were “not producing almost enough” and that Russia produces more ammunition in three months than it does NATO within a year.

But Vice President JD Vance, also appearing in Munich, seemed indecisive from Europe’s promises and used his speech to attack what he called a violation of free speech in Europe. Vance said it was “excellent” that Europe was planning to increase defense costs, but that he was more concerned about the threat to Europe from inside than Russia.

For his part, Trump has long called for Europe to spend more on defense, threatening to leave NATO if it did not happen and even suggesting before it was re -elected that it would allow Russia to attack members of NATO not spending enough protection

Some countries have already taken major steps towards increasing spending. In 2024, Poland led the Alliance in Defense Costs as a percentage of GDP, with Warsaw investing more than 4% of its economic production.

Lithuania and Estonia have also pledged to increase their protection costs to 5% of GDP, saying that while they agreed with Trump’s demands, they are not taking that step because of the president, but because of the threat of Russia.

But the future of the American Alliance-Roves appears at risk more than protection costs. Trump’s team in recent days suggested that Europe could be avoided in negotiations between Russia and US in Ukraine and that it was “unreal” that Ukraine could return to all Russia occupied territory.

Despite increasing tensions, many leaders said in Munich that there were still opportunities to continue working with SH.BA to fight Moscow.

Kristrún Mjöll Frostadóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland, said that “it is easy to become very negative” about the US-Evrope relationship and called the situation “unpleasant” as Ukrainian sovereignty is in danger. But “this does not mean that relationships with the SH.BA must be bad,” she continued.

Šakalien added that while Trump had “unique” and “unexpected” tactics, it was not necessarily a negative thing as “playing with rules does not work with Russia”.

As many other European officials said over the weekend, the US also needs Europe and its capabilities as an ally, it continued.