In a previously unannounced flurry of visits to Gulf nations last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed defense agreements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The contents of the deals have not been made public, but Zelensky has said they include Ukrainian expertise in downing drones, a pressing need as Iranian strikes target Gulf countries in the Middle East war.

"I believe these are historic agreements. We are reaching understanding on strategic cooperation in the military technology area and in other areas. We are talking about 10-year agreements," Zelensky told reporters.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help the Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.

Ukraine has proposed swapping its relatively cheap drone interceptors for the expensive air-defence missiles that the Gulf is currently using to down Iranian drones.

"Over these 10 years, we will be engaged in co-production, building plants in both countries -- production lines in Ukraine as well as in these countries,"  Zelensky told reporters at a briefing earlier on Saturday.

Qatar's defence ministry said in a statement during Zelensky's visit that the agreement with Ukraine "includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems".

Follow us on:

Facebook

Instagram

Whatsapp