Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed “historic” defence agreements signed with Middle Eastern international locations final week on a go to to the area.
Ukraine signed defence agreements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates final week.
The contents of the offers haven’t been made public, however Zelensky has stated they embrace Ukrainian experience in downing drones, a urgent want as Iranian strikes goal Gulf international locations within the Middle East struggle.
“I believe these are historic agreements. We are reaching understanding on strategic cooperation in the military technology area and in other areas. We are talking about 10-year agreements,” Zelensky informed reporters.
Kyiv has sought to leverage its experience in downing Russian drones to assist the Gulf nations, that are being attacked with the identical Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.
Ukraine has proposed swapping its comparatively low-cost drone interceptors for the costly air-defence missiles that the Gulf is presently utilizing to down Iranian drones.
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Easter ceasefire
Some of Ukraine’s allies have despatched Kyiv “signals” about the potential for scaling again its long-range strikes on Russia’s oil sector amid a spike in world vitality costs, Zelensky stated on Monday.
Speaking to reporters in a WhatsApp chat, he added that Ukraine was able to reciprocate if Russia stops attacking the Ukrainian vitality system, and that Kyiv is open to an Easter ceasefire.
“Recently, following such a severe global energy crisis, we have indeed received signals from some of our partners about how to reduce our responses in the oil sector and the energy sector of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky stated in a WhatsApp briefing with journalists.
The US-Israeli struggle on Iran has squeezed worldwide provides of oil, fuel and refined merchandise, sending costs hovering. Russian strikes on Ukraine’s vitality infrastructure have already left it scrambling for provides.
Zelensky stated on the weekend that he had reached a take care of some international locations throughout his go to to the Middle East on diesel deliveries for a 12 months to Ukraine, with out offering additional particulars. Diesel is important for the functioning of the Ukrainian armed forces and for the nation’s agricultural sector, the bedrock of the financial system.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260330-zelensky-hails-historic-defence-agreements-with-gulf-states