Putin hopes for continued defence industry ties with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he hoped there would not be a complete halt in defense trade with Ukraine. "We hope that a break in these cooperative ties will not occur, although today we don't see deliveries in their full volume, but there is a solution of the according government structures on the discontinuance of these deliveries," Putin said during a meeting with Russian lawmakers, RIA Novosti reported on Monday. "From our side, we would like to continue this cooperation," the Russian president said, adding a break in ties with Russian companies would most likely lead to catastrophe for the Ukrainian defense industrial complex. "A break in ties with Russian partners would most likely lead to a catastrophe for the Ukrainian defense industry. Why? Because they don’t have any other market. It's simply not there. The only consumer is the Russian military," Putin said. Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema announced recently that Ukraine's coup-installed government decided to end sales of weapons and military equipment to Russia. At the same time, sales of dual-purpose equipment will continue. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of Russia's space and defense industry, said Russia would end all purchases of Ukrainian defense products in the next two and a half years. Ties between Moscow and Kiev have been on the brink of conflict since the Ukrainian parliament backed by far-right movements ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and scheduled an early presidential election for May 25. Moscow has described the uprising in Kiev as an illegitimate fascist coup and a military seizure of power, which resulted in it taking steps to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine, including the reunification with Crimea.