Ukraine signed 10-year defence partnerships with three Gulf countries as Zelenskyy toured the region over the weekend. What is there for the Gulf and what will Ukraine get in return?
Ukraine has agreed to provide Gulf states with its complete air defence system — including maritime drones, electronic warfare and interception technology — against Iranian drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday as he returned from his tour of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan.
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“Not just interceptors alone, but also defence lines, software, electronic warfare systems, and so on. In other words, we are taking a systemic approach to this," Zelenskyy said.
Speaking in a WhatsApp chat with journalists, he also confirmed that Ukraine’s maritime drones are part of the deals made with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
Kyiv’s naval drone fleet has been expanding in recent years, and Ukrainian sea drones have proven effective in inflicting heavy losses on Russia’s military sites and ships in the Black Sea, such as the Magura-V5 drones, which have been used to target the Russian fleet.
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is willing to share its expertise in unblocking maritime trade routes with the naval drones.
“We shared our experience with the Black Sea corridor and how it operates. They understand that our Armed Forces have been highly effective in unblocking the Black Sea corridor. We are sharing these details.”
In an interview with Euronews last Friday, the EU special envoy to the Gulf region Luigi Di Maio said the European Union is calling for the Black Sea grain model agreed between Russia and Ukraine as the diplomatic method to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
Initially signed in the summer of 2022, the Black Sea Grain Initiative is an agreement between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN that safely allowed the export of grain from Ukrainian ports to world markets, reducing global food prices.
The agreement created a maritime humanitarian corridor, but the initiative was terminated one year later after Russia withdrew its participation and said it would view any vessel bound for Ukraine as a potential military target. However, Ukraine has since established new export routes.
Zelenskyy said this issue was raised during his visit to the Gulf, but it is “handled by the United States.”
“We are, of course, always ready to help our partners.”
What is Ukraine getting in return?
For Ukraine the deals with the Gulf states are an opportunity to open its arms exports on a global scale.
Zelenskyy announced back in September that Kyiv was ready to take this is much anticipated step, which would transform the country’s defence industry and allow Kyiv’s partners to access the rarest type of weapons – those tested on the battlefield.
And this is why it is important that the deals have been signed for 10 years, Zelenskyy said.
“It is about exports and about opening up exports. But it the right kind of opening, where we understand that we are not selling our experience for nothing.”
Kyiv’s top priority is Ukraine’s air defence from Russia’s ballistic missiles. Zelenskyy said his country is feeling the shortage of PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defence systems.
With only around 60 of those produced per month, many are supplied to the Middle East.
“All anti-ballistic packages – we can see how partners are directing as many of them as possible to where things are most intense today, primarily the Middle East.”
He confirmed that the issue had been raised during his visit to the Gulf but refused to provide further details.
“Of course, this issue was raised in Middle Eastern countries. I will not go into details. We will continue working to ensure that Ukraine is supplied in this area.”
In the meantime Ukraine will continue “doing everything to ensure we have our own anti-ballistic systems," the Ukrainian president said.