Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Saudi Arabia on 26 March on an unannounced visit aimed at securing defense cooperation in exchange for Kyiv's accumulated expertise in countering drone attacks, Bloomberg reports.
Ukraine is set to sign an air security deal with Saudi Arabia, AFP reported Thursday, citing an unnamed senior official.
Zelenskyy confirmed his arrival in Riyadh without disclosing the itinerary. "We appreciate the support and support those who are willing to work with us for security," he said, adding only that he was planning to hold "important meetings." The trip will take him to other countries in the region, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified.
The Exchange on the Table
Kyiv has been marketing its battlefield experience with drone interception — built up since the start of the Iran war — to Gulf states whose energy infrastructure has come under sustained attack. Ukraine has dispatched more than 200 military specialists to several Middle Eastern countries to advise on countering Iranian drone strikes, according to Bloomberg.
In return, Zelenskyy has offered that expertise as leverage to obtain supplies of US-made missiles — described by Bloomberg as expensive and increasingly scarce — which remain the only effective weapon against high-speed Russian ballistic projectiles.
Zelenskyy was accompanied by his chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, who had already led a Ukrainian delegation to the region earlier this month.
Broader Context
The Gulf visit comes as Ukraine faces mounting pressure on its western support channels. Kyiv has struggled to lock in fresh NATO commitments to purchase critical US-made weapons systems. A €90 billion ($104 billion) EU loan for Ukraine has also stalled following a Hungarian veto, Bloomberg notes.
