By Olena Harmash
March 27 (Reuters) – Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement on defence cooperation that lays the foundation for future contracts, technological cooperation and investments, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday.
During an unannounced visit to the Gulf, Zelenskiy hopes to bolster support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, which is now in its fifth year, as the war with Iran raises uncertainty over whether Washington will restrict its military supplies.
Zelenskiy said the framework agreement was signed ahead of a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We are ready to share our expertise and systems with Saudi Arabia and to work together to strengthen the protection of lives,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app.
“Saudi Arabia also has capabilities that are of interest to Ukraine, and this cooperation can be mutually beneficial.”
Zelenskiy’s trip comes after the Washington Post reported on Thursday that the United States was weighing redirecting the weapons supplies intended for Ukraine to the Middle East as the conflict with Iran strains existing American munitions stocks.
UKRAINIAN EXPERTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
This month, Kyiv sent more than 220 Ukrainian experts to advise several Middle East countries on how to intercept drone attacks that have wreaked havoc on energy infrastructure across the region.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine wanted money and technology in return for providing military assistance to countries in the region.
The Ukrainian leader met a group of the Ukrainian military experts in Saudi Arabia, according to the video shared by his office on Friday.
In the video, a representative of the Ukrainian General Staff said that the Ukrainian group consisted of air defence experts and SBU security service officials.
The Ukrainian experts held a workshop for Saudi officials and also reported to the Saudi General Staff, and were preparing to share practical air defence experience with them, he said.
Drones have become the dominant weapon on the battlefield in the war with Russia. Kyiv has quickly innovated and increased its domestic production of various types of drones, helping to reduce the impact of Russia’s considerable advantage in terms of manpower.
Zelenskiy told Reuters in an interview this week that provided enough financing, Ukraine was able to produce about 2,000 drone interceptors a day.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Olena Harmash; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alison Williams)
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