KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday (Mar 28) he had met with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and that they had agreed to cooperate in the field of security and defence.
“Our teams will finalise the details,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram app.
The two leaders tackled opportunities to advance bilateral cooperation under the Comprehensive Economic Agreement between the two sides, the Emirati state news agency WAM said, without further elaborating.
They also discussed the security developments and military escalation in the region and their impact on international navigation and the global economy, WAM added.
Zelenskyy arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, where the Saudi defence ministry signed an agreement on defence cooperation with Ukraine’s defence ministry.
The Ukrainian leader also arrived in Qatar on Saturday.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Friday that Kyiv was close to clinching several security agreements, including with the UAE and Qatar, to counter Iranian attacks.
UKRAINE HAS AIR DEFENCE, DRONE EXPERTISE
Ukraine has offered its air-defence expertise and drone technology to countries in the region.
Zelenskyy hopes to draw support from the Gulf nations in Ukraine’s war against Russia, which is now in its fifth year, as Western military aid faces new uncertainty and Kyiv scrambles for cash to cover its budget deficit and fund domestic weapon production.
More than 200 Ukrainian military and security experts have been dispatched to advise Middle East countries on how to intercept drone attacks that have wreaked havoc on energy infrastructure across the region.
Zelenskyy said that during his visits, he sought to build strategic relationships with the Gulf region and raise funds to invest in weapons production in Ukraine.