Ukraine’s Zelenskyy agrees to defense cooperation with UAE, Qatar

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

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

Zelenskyy 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 defense.

“Our teams will finalize the details,” Zelenskyy 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 U.S.-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.

Zelenskyy had first arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, where the two countries also signed an agreement on defense cooperation.

周六，乌克兰总统泽连斯基访问了阿拉伯联合酋长国和卡塔尔，并同意与两国在国防领域开展合作。此前，该地区的紧张局势不断升级。

卡塔尔国防部周六发表声明称，多哈和基辅签署了一项防务合作协议，其中包括在反导弹和无人机系统方面交流专业知识。

泽连斯基此前曾访问阿联酋，并会见了阿联酋总统谢赫·穆罕默德·本·扎耶德·阿勒纳哈扬，两国同意在安全和国防领域开展合作。

泽连斯基在 Telegram 应用上谈到与阿联酋的会谈时表示：“我们的团队将敲定细节。”

乌克兰外交部长安德烈·西比哈周五告诉路透社，乌克兰现在拥有多年击落俄罗斯无人机和导弹的经验，并且即将达成几项安全协议以应对伊朗的袭击。

美国和以色列对伊朗的战争已造成 2000 多人死亡，扰乱了全球市场，并引发了伊朗的报复性打击，这些打击有效地封锁了霍尔木兹海峡，并用导弹和无人机袭击了海湾地区的几个国家。

泽连斯基周四首次抵达沙特阿拉伯，两国还在沙特签署了防务合作协议。