Ukraine deepens Gulf security ties as Kyiv exports air defense expertise

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday signed a defense cooperation agreement with Qatar and held talks on security cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, as war escalates in the Middle East and Russia continues its large-scale attacks on Ukraine.

“We discussed issues that could further strengthen the protection of life in both countries and agreed on a mutually beneficial partnership in the defense sector for at least 10 years,” Zelenskyy said on X after his meetings in Doha.

Earlier Saturday, Zelenskyy was in in Abu Dhabi to meet with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “There is already a clear understanding of how to strengthen the system of protection of the sky and critical infrastructure in the Emirates, integrating the Ukrainian experience,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.

Ukraine has been pushing to bolster security agreements with Gulf states and on Friday signed a defense cooperation pact with Saudi Arabia, during a visit by Zelenskyy to Riyadh. That accord, Zelenskyy said, “lays the foundation for future contracts, technological cooperation, and investment. It also strengthens Ukraine’s international role as a security donor.”

The outreach reflects Kyiv’s broader push to leverage its battlefield experience following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, positioning itself as a security partner to countries facing rising regional threats, particularly from Iran.

Since the start of the Iran war, Kyiv has been pitching its unique experience and interceptors to the Middle Eastern countries, which rely on costly PAC-3 and other systems to shoot down Iranian drones, capabilities which Ukraine lacks.

Ukraine has also sent more than 200 of its own drone-сountering experts to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Some 30 more were heading to Jordan and Kuwait, Zelenskyy told reporters via a WhatsApp chat last week.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters on Friday that Kyiv is close to finalizing security agreements with the UAE and Qatar to counter Iranian attacks. “We have the situation in the Middle East, so it is important not to lose the global attention on the Ukrainian case, because everything is interlinked,” Sybiha said.