Ukraine on Saturday agreed to cooperate on defense with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to both countries amid escalating tensions in the region.
Qatar’s defense ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Doha and Kyiv have signed a defense cooperation agreement which includes the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems.
Zelenskyy had earlier been to the UAE and met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the two countries agreed to cooperate in the fields of security and defense.
“Our teams will finalize the details,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram app with reference to the UAE discussions.
Ukraine, which now has years of experience shooting down Russian drones and missiles, was close to clinching several security agreements to counter Iranian attacks, its foreign minister Andrii Sybiha had told Reuters on Friday.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has killed more than 2,000 people, upended global markets and spurred Iranian retaliatory strikes that have effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz and targeted several countries across the Gulf with missiles and drones.
Zelenskyy had first arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, where the two countries also signed an agreement on defense cooperation.
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