(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy kicked off a surprise visit to the Gulf region as he seeks to offer his nation’s anti-drone expertise in exchange for defense support.
Zelenskiy said he was planning to hold “important meetings” as he announced his arrival in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. “We appreciate the support and support those who are willing to work with us for security,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader didn’t elaborate on the details of the trip, which is going to take him to other countries in the region, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified.
Ukraine is set to sign an air security deal with Saudi Arabia, AFP reported Thursday citing an unnamed senior official.
Kyiv has been trying to leverage its experience with drone warfare since the start of the Iran war, dispatching teams to the Gulf to advise on how to intercept attacks that have wreaked havoc on energy infrastructure across the region.
The Ukrainian president has offered to exchange the expertise for support in getting supplies of expensive and increasingly scarce US-made missiles, which are the only effective weapon against high-speed Russian ballistic projectiles.
Zelenskiy is being accompanied in Saudi Arabia by his top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, who led a Ukrainian delegation to the region earlier this month. Ukraine has dispatched a team of more than 200 military specialists to several Middle Eastern countries to help them defend against drones fired by Iran amid its standoff with the US.
The trip comes as Kyiv is struggling to secure fresh commitments from NATO allies to purchase critical US-made weapons. A crucial €90 billion ($104 billion) European Union loan for Ukraine has also been put in limbo by a Hungarian veto.
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