More than 200 Ukrainian military experts are in the Middle East to help defend against Iranian drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said, as he looks to leverage his country’s years of experience fighting Russian attacks.
“Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the way to Kuwait,” Mr. Zelensky told Britain’s Parliament on Tuesday. “We are working with several other countries — agreements are already in place. We do not want this terror of the Iranian regime against its neighbors to succeed.”
The Ukrainian leader has previously said that 11 countries, including the United States, had asked Kyiv for assistance in combating the Iranian Shahed drones that in recent weeks have been launched at Persian Gulf countries. Russia often launches hundreds of such drones across Ukraine in a single night, and Kyiv has had years to fine-tune the means to shoot them down.
Mr. Zelensky said that 34 more experts were “ready to deploy” to the region, as he tours European capitals seeking to keep attention on the war in Ukraine while much of the world’s focus has shifted to the Middle East. After visiting London, Mr. Zelensky traveled to Spain, where on Wednesday he was expected to meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Last week, he held talks with President Emmanuel Macron of France in Paris.
The Mideast crisis has put U.S.-mediated peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on hold. Mr. Zelensky has also warned that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran could drain stocks of the defensive weapons that Ukraine relies on from its allies to defend against Russian attacks.
The president has sought to demonstrate how the two wars are linked. Iran and Russia are security partners, and Moscow has provided intelligence to Iran during the U.S.-Israeli war, according to U.S. officials.
“What is happening around Iran today is not a faraway war for us — because of the cooperation between Russia and Iran,” he said in London. “And we do not believe we have the right to be indifferent.”
At the same time, Ukraine is hoping to leverage its defense expertise into security partnerships and to reap potentially vast profits for its arms industry.
Mr. Zelensky highlighted how Ukraine’s interceptors are “far more cost effective” than the expensive air-defense missiles many Gulf states have been using to to shoot down drones. He said his country stood ready to strike deals with “all our reliable partners.”
“I don’t think anyone would want to leave Ukraine’s war-proven strength and capability outside their security,” he said. “If someone does, it wouldn’t be wise.”
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