{"id":2568,"date":"2026-03-28T18:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=2568"},"modified":"2026-03-28T18:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:43:09","slug":"ukraine-looks-to-leverage-its-help-to-gulf-states-fighting-iran-drones-in-exchange-for-interceptors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=2568","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine looks to leverage its help to Gulf states fighting Iran drones in exchange for interceptors"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday made unannounced visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as Ukraine seeks to use its\u00a0drone expertise\u00a0to help Gulf Arab states blunt Iran\u2019s attacks during\u00a0the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has already signed 10-year security agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and expects to shortly finalize a similar agreement with the UAE.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has quickly grown into one of the world\u2019s 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\u2019s\u00a0full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.<\/p>\n

In return for its aid to Gulf countries,\u00a0Ukraine is seeking\u00a0more high-end air-defense missiles that they possess and that Kyiv needs to counter Russia\u2019s attacks. On Thursday, Zelenskyy visited Saudi Arabia,, and last week he said that Ukraine is looking into whether it can play a role in restoring security in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy tours Gulf Arab states<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Zelenskyy 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.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy 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.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian and Qatari ministers of defense signed cooperation agreements in the defense sector and defense investments, according to the Qatar Ministry of Defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cReal security is built on partnership \u2014 we value everyone and remain open to supporting all those who are ready to work together for this goal,\u201d Zelenskyy wrote alongside a video of himself disembarking a plane in Qatar.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Last week, Zelenskyy revealed that Kyiv is\u00a0helping five countries\u00a0\u2014 the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan \u2014 counter Tehran\u2019s drone strikes on their territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere,\u201d he said on X following his meeting with the Emirati leader.<\/p>\n

He added they had discussed \u201cthe security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Mideast alliances<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimple sales do not interest us,\u201d he said at a live briefing held on Zoom on Saturday.<\/p>\n

While Ukraine remains short of high-end air defense systems, such as Patriot missiles, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv has developed an \u201cintegrated\u201d defense model\u00a0that effectively protects\u00a0against Iranian-made Shahed drones.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is offering Gulf Arab partners \u201ccombat-tested\u201d expertise, and has already signed 10-year security deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.<\/p>\n

The agreement with Qatar involves \u201cjoint defense industry projects, the establishment of coproduction facilities, and technological partnerships between companies,\u201d Zelenskyy said in an X post.<\/p>\n

At a media briefing, the Ukrainian leader said that he expects a similar agreement with the UAE to follow shortly.<\/p>\n

He also told reporters that Ukraine had received \u201cno signals\u201d from the U.S. about potential diversions of weapons, including those funded by Kyiv\u2019s European partners, from Ukraine to the Middle East.<\/p>\n

His comments followed weeks of speculation that the Iran war could detract attention from Ukraine, deplete Western arsenals and\u00a0force NATO allies to reduce military support\u00a0for Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, brought on by damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf and\u00a0Iran\u2019s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy on Rubio: \u2018I have not lied to anyone\u2019<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy also pushed back on recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Friday\u00a0dismissed as \u201ca lie\u201d\u00a0the Ukrainian leader\u2019s claim that Washington wants Kyiv to hand over territory to Russia before giving it security guarantees.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said his earlier statements, made in an interview with Reuters, reflected the \u201cgeneral direction\u201d of talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not lied to anyone,\u201d he said, adding that Rubio may have misconstrued his comments.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy stressed that the U.S. has not directly pressured Kyiv to withdraw troops from the Donbas, Ukraine\u2019s industrial heartland long coveted by Moscow.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0the front line. Kyiv fears that Moscow could use that territory as a launchpad for further aggression.<\/p>\n

But Zelenskyy said he was worried by Washington\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Drone attacks in Ukraine and Russia<\/p>\n

Russia launched more than 270 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing at least five people, Ukrainian authorities reported on Saturday.<\/p>\n

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. Zelenskyy said that the \u201cmassive\u201d strike on Odesa involved more than 60 drones.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s overnight strikes also killed two men and wounded two other people in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy\u2019s hometown in central Ukraine, after a drone hit an industrial facility, regional head Oleksandr Gandzha said in a Telegram update. He didn\u2019t specify what the industrial building was.<\/p>\n

One person was killed overnight in the Poltava region, also in central Ukraine, as Russia struck industrial sites there, regional authorities reported on Saturday. Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz said that a production facility was hit.<\/p>\n

In Russia, a child died after a Ukrainian drone hit a private house in Russia\u2019s western Yaroslavl region, local Gov. Mikhail Evraev reported early Saturday. According to Evraev\u2019s Telegram post, the child\u2019s parents were hospitalized with serious injuries after the attack.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that 155 Ukrainian drones were shot down during the night over Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.<\/p>\n

#Ukraine #leverage #Gulf #states #fighting #Iran #drones #exchange #interceptors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday made unannounced visits to the United Arab Emirates and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[5183,5998,808,1032,5999,376,5997,1579,5266],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}