 "Zelenskyy secures defence pacts with Qatar, UAE amid West Asia tensions")
Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Qatar on Saturday agreed to cooperate with each other on defence as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to both countries amid escalating tensions in the region due to the ongoing Iran war.
Qatar’s defence ministry confirmed that Doha and Kyiv have signed a defence cooperation pact covering the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems. The agreement is part of a broader pattern of partnerships Zelenskyy has been forging across the Gulf region.
“We are talking about a 10-year partnership. We have already signed the agreement with Saudi Arabia, and we have just signed a similar 10-year agreement with Qatar,” Zelenskyy said, as reported by Reuters. “We will also sign a 10-year agreement with the UAE. It will happen within the next several days”.
Earlier during the visit, Zelenskyy met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with both countries agreeing to cooperate in the fields of security and defence.
Bringing drone expertise
A key offering from Kyiv in these partnerships is its hard-won battlefield experience. More than 200 Ukrainian military and security experts have already been dispatched to advise West Asian countries on intercepting drone attacks, which have caused significant damage to energy infrastructure across the region.
The talks focused on weapons co-production and securing energy and fuel supplies for Ukraine. Zelenskyy also said he secured diesel supplies for a year. Diesel has emerged as a commodity critical to both the Ukrainian armed forces and the country’s agricultural sector. Ukraine requires approximately 700,000 litres of diesel per month, though Zelenskyy noted the army was currently fully supplied.
Scrambling for support
Zelenskyy’s Gulf tour comes at a critical juncture for Ukraine. Now in its fifth year of war against Russia, Kyiv is facing growing uncertainty over Western military aid as US President Donald Trump shifts his focus on West Asia. Ukraine is actively seeking alternative sources of funding and weapons production investment.
Zelenskyy said he aimed to build lasting strategic relationships with Gulf nations and raise funds to invest in domestic weapons manufacturing back home.
Zelenskyy’s visit to the Gulf comes at a time when the whole region is facing unprecedented geo-political volatility. The ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran has killed more than 2,000 people. It has led to massive disruptions in global markets. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran has added further instability in the region, as over 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply passes through the region.
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