KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday made unannounced visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as Ukraine seeks to use its drone expertise to help gulf Arab states blunt Iran’s attacks during the war in the Middle East.
Zelensky said that Ukraine has already signed 10-year security agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar and expected to soon finalize a similar agreement with the UAE.
Ukraine has quickly grown into one of the world’s leading producers of cutting-edge, battle-tested drone interceptors that are cheap and effective. They are playing a key part in its defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion that began more than four years ago.
In return for its aid to Persian Gulf countries, Ukraine is seeking more high-end air-defense missiles that they possess and that Kyiv needs to counter Russia’s attacks. Zelensky visited Saudi Arabia on Thursday, and he said earlier this month that Ukraine is looking into whether it can play a role in restoring security in the Strait of Hormuz.
UAE, Qatar visits
On Saturday, Zelensky and Emirati state media reported on a meeting between the Ukrainian president and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, to discuss regional security amid the Iran war.
Zelensky later posted on X to say that he had moved on to Doha and met with Qatari leaders, including with the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The Ukrainian and Qatari ministers of defense signed cooperation agreements in the defense sector and defense investments, according to the Qatar Ministry of Defense.
“Real security is built on partnership — we value everyone and remain open to supporting all those who are ready to work together for this goal,” Zelensky wrote alongside a video of himself disembarking a plane in Qatar.
The war in the Middle East erupted on Feb. 28 when the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran. The Islamic Republic retaliated with strikes against Israel and the gulf Arab states and the blockading of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway. The war has upended global travel and sent oil prices soaring as its economic fallout extended well beyond the region.
Last week, Zelensky revealed that Kyiv is helping five countries — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — counter Tehran’s drone strikes on their territory.
“For Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere,” he said on X following his meeting with the Emirati leader.
He added they had discussed “the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market.”
Ukraine’s Mideast alliances
Zelensky told reporters that his government is seeking to build long-term strategic ties with Middle Eastern countries, including joint production, investment, energy cooperation and the sharing of battlefield experience.
“Simple sales do not interest us,” he said at a live briefing held on Zoom on Saturday.
While Ukraine remains short of high-end air defense systems, such as Patriot missiles, Zelensky said that Kyiv has developed an “integrated” defense model that effectively protects against Iranian-made Shahed drones.
Tehran sent large numbers of the attack drones to Russia early in the war. Since then, Moscow has modified them to improve their effectiveness, begun domestic production and repeatedly launched the drones in waves at Ukrainian cities.
Zelensky said that Ukraine is offering gulf Arab partners “combat-tested” expertise and has already signed the security deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The agreement with Qatar involves “joint defense industry projects, the establishment of coproduction facilities, and technological partnerships between companies,” Zelensky said in an X post.
At a media briefing, the Ukrainian leader said that he expects a similar agreement with the UAE to follow shortly.
He also told reporters that Ukraine had received “no signals” from the U.S. about potential diversions of weapons, including those funded by Kyiv’s European partners, from Ukraine to the Middle East.
His comments followed weeks of speculation that the Iran war could detract attention from Ukraine, deplete Western arsenals and force NATO allies to reduce military support for Kyiv.
Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, brought on by damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the gulf and Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point.
Zelensky on Rubio: ‘I have not lied to anyone’
Zelensky also responded to recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Friday dismissed as “a lie” the Ukrainian leader’s claim that Washington wants Kyiv to hand over territory to Russia before giving it security guarantees.
Zelensky said his earlier statements, made in an interview with Reuters, reflected the “general direction” of talks.
“I have not lied to anyone,” he said, adding that Rubio may have misconstrued his comments.
Zelensky stressed that the U.S. has not directly pressured Kyiv to withdraw troops from the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland long coveted by Moscow.
Russian forces occupy the bulk of the region, but they have not seized a strip of land that is among the most heavily fortified parts of the front line. Kyiv fears that Moscow could use that territory as a launchpad for further aggression.
But Zelensky said he was worried about Washington’s insistence that Ukraine would only receive guarantees following a comprehensive peace agreement, not a ceasefire deal. Kyiv claims that Russia has refused to end the war unless it can take over all of the Donbas.
Drone attacks in Ukraine and Russia
Russia launched more than 270 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing at least five people, Ukrainian authorities reported Saturday.
Two people were killed and at least 11 more were wounded in a nighttime Russian drone strike on Odesa, according to the head of the region, Serhii Lysak. Zelensky said that the “massive” strike on Odesa involved more than 60 drones.
Russia’s overnight strikes also killed two men and wounded two other people in Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s hometown in central Ukraine, after a drone hit an industrial facility, regional head Oleksandr Gandzha said in a Telegram update. He didn’t specify what the industrial building was.
One person was killed overnight in the Poltava region, also in central Ukraine, as Russia struck industrial sites there, regional authorities reported Saturday. Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz said that a production facility was hit.
In Russia, a child died after a Ukrainian drone hit a private house in Russia’s western Yaroslavl region, local Gov. Mikhail Evraev reported early Saturday. According to Evraev’s Telegram post, the child’s parents were hospitalized with serious injuries after the attack.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that 155 Ukrainian drones were shot down during the night over Russia and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Yurchuk writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report.
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