Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for an unannounced go to, because the conflict in Iran spurs curiosity amongst Gulf international locations in Ukrainian arms expertise.
The 2 international locations are set to signal an settlement on “safety cooperation — specifically, the safety of the skies”, afterward Thursday, a senior official mentioned. AFPtalking on situation of anonymity.
They didn’t present additional particulars of what was set to be within the accord.
Kyiv has sought to leverage its experience in downing Russian drones to assist Gulf nations, that are being attacked with the identical Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.
Zelensky has mentioned that greater than 200 Ukrainian anti-drone specialists have been deployed to a number of international locations within the Center East, together with Saudi Arabia, for the reason that US-Israel strikes on Iran spurred retaliatory drone and missile assaults focusing on US belongings and bases from Tehran.
Whereas Tehran accepts accountability for among the assaults, it denies having a job in others, together with in Saudi Arabia.
“Arrived in Saudi Arabia. Necessary conferences are scheduled,” Zelensky wrote on social media, publishing a video of him assembly a regional official in Jeddah.
“We respect the help and help those that are able to work with us to make sure safety,” Zelensky added.
Kyiv is touting its mixture of low-cost drone interceptors, digital jamming instruments and anti-aircraft weapons to down Russian drones as an efficient air protection device.
Ukraine has proposed swapping its interceptors for the vastly dearer air-defense missiles that Gulf international locations are at the moment utilizing to down Iranian drones. Kyiv argues it wants extra of them to fend off Russian missile assaults.
Final 12 months, Saudi Arabia additionally hosted US officers for separate talks with Ukrainian and Russian delegations in a bid to seek out an finish to the four-year conflict triggered by Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.
