Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed an air defence agreement during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the kingdom, which is facing Iranian drone attacks, two senior officials told AFP on Friday.

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

“The point of the agreement is that Ukraine will support them in developing all the necessary components of air defence, which they currently lack,” one official said of the document which, according to another was signed on Thursday.

Both spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity.

Kyiv has been using a mix of cheap drone interceptors, electronic jamming tools and anti-aircraft guns to down Russian drones fired at its cities on a nightly basis for four years.

It touts its anti-drone defences as the best in the world.

Ukraine has proposed swapping its interceptors for vastly more expensive air-defence missiles that Gulf countries are using to down Iranian drones.

Ukraine says it needs more of them to fend off Russian missile attacks.

The deal signed between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia “is not only about interceptors as such, but about building a system, integrating it with other air defence components, Ukrainian experience in its use, AI, and all the other elements of data analysis needed to counter Shaheds and other drones,” one of the officials said.

Zelensky confirmed on social media that both countries had “reached an important arrangement” on defence cooperation and that he had met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit.

“We are ready to share our expertise and systems with Saudi Arabia,” Zelensky said, adding: “Saudi Arabia also has capabilities that are of interest to Ukraine, and this cooperation can be mutually beneficial.” He did not disclose what exactly had been agreed as part of the deal.

Zelensky also met with Ukrainian anti-drone experts who have been deployed to the country since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran that spurred retaliatory drone and missile attacks from Tehran.

“Even in such a short time, Ukrainian experts were able to share extensive expertise,” Zelensky said.

“Ukraine’s expertise is unique, and recognised as such, and that is why everyone is so interested in our technologies and experience.”

• Beijing rejects claims of SMIC supplying chip tools to Iran.
• Wang Yi urges peace talks amid Iran conflict tensions.
• US officials say shipments began year ago and may still be ongoing.
  

China’s foreign ministry accused the media of publishing “false information” on Friday following a report that said the country’s top semiconductor firm has sent chipmaking tools to Iran.

The report, which cited information from two unidentified senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, said contract chipmaker SMIC “began sending the tools to Iran roughly a year ago”.

A US official was quoted in the report as saying they had “no reason to believe that any of this has stopped”.

China is a key partner of Iran but has not announced military assistance to Tehran in the war triggered by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, repeatedly calling for a ceasefire.

The chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), did not respond to an AFP request for comment on Friday.

Asked about the report at a regular news conference in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he was “not familiar with the situation”.

“What I can tell you is that recently, some media have been keen on releasing some news that seems right but instead is wrong,” Lin said.

He added that, “after verification”, such reports were “all” found to be “false information” but did not elaborate.

China condemned the US-Israeli killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khameini but has also said it “does not go along” with Tehran’s strikes on Gulf states hosting US bases.

Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in a phone call this week that he hoped “all parties can seize every opportunity and window for peace and start the peace talks process”.

The Iranian foreign minister has called on the United Nations to condemn the US and the Israeli regime for waging an illegal war on the Islamic Republic and hold the regimes accountable for their crimes.

Abbas Araghchi made the remarks in a phone conversation on Thursday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the sides discussed the latest developments and the atrocities that the invading coalition is committing against Iran.

Araghchi urged the UN to take serious action and adopt decisive and clear positions towards honoring its inherent duty to protect international peace and security by denouncing the aggressors and bringing them to account.

Referring to the brutal US-Israeli attacks on civilian sites, including schools, hospitals, cultural and historical monuments, public places and residential areas, the top Iranian diplomat reminded the UN of its responsibility to pursue the flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law, including human rights law and international humanitarian law.

He further criticized those who are calling for Tehran to show restraint or end the war.

“The fact should not be ignored that it was the United States and the Zionist regime, which launched the military aggression against Iran and imposed the war on the region and the world, betraying diplomacy once again and endangering security and interests of all regional countries,” he said.

The criminal US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.

The Iranian armed forces have responded by launching almost daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israelioccupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

They have also blocked the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas tankers affiliated with the adversaries and those cooperating with them.

Araghchi said that insecurity in the strategic waterway, lying between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, is the direct result of the American-Zionist aggression against Iran.

“Transit prohibition for vessels belonging or linked to the enemies and their allies is the legal right of Iran as a coastal country. Related authorities of the Islamic Republic have taken necessary measures to provide maritime security and safety in the waterway.”

He also emphasized Iran’s resolve to continue the legitimate defense of its national security and sovereignty, as well as territorial integrity.

Guterres, for his part, stressed the UN’s principled position on the need for respecting countries’ national sovereignty and territorial integrity, expressing concerns about the continuation of the war and killings in the region.