Ukraine’s Zelenskiy agrees defence cooperation with UAE, Qatar during Gulf visit

• Zelenskiy continuing Gulf visit after arriving in Riyadh on Thursday.
• Qatar says Doha, Kyiv have signed defence cooperation agreement.
• UAE, Ukraine earlier agreed to cooperate on security and defence.
  

Ukraine on Saturday agreed to cooperate on defence with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy travelled to both countries amid escalating tensions in the region.

Qatar’s defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Doha and Kyiv have signed a defence cooperation agreement, which includes the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems.

Zelenskiy 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 defence.

“Our teams will finalise the details,” Zelenskiy 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 US-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.

Zelenskiy had first arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday where the two countries also signed an agreement on defence cooperation.