Ukraine signed an agreement to help three Gulf countries deal with Iranian UAVs

Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said on March 28 that this Gulf country and Ukraine had signed a defense agreement, including cooperation in dealing with threats from missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), amid the context that Iran is stepping up its air attack campaign against neighboring countries.

“The agreement includes cooperation in the fields of technology, joint investment development and exchange of professional experience in intercepting missiles and UAV systems,” Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement issued on the occasion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the country.

Mr. Zelensky is visiting Gulf countries, an area that has suffered many missile and UAV attacks from Iran in the past month.

On March 26, the President of Ukraine went to Saudi Arabia and announced a defense agreement with Riyadh. A day later, he went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and met with President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“We have agreed to cooperate in the field of security and defense. Our delegation will finalize the final details,” Mr. Zelensky shared on social networks.

“For every normal country, ensuring stability and protecting human lives amid today’s threats is extremely important. Ukraine has expertise and practical experience in this field,” President Zelensky emphasized.

Ukraine believes that it possesses the world’s leading anti-UAV defense system, after 4 years of dealing with Russia’s attack campaign with many types of weapons, including the Shahed UAV model provided by Iran to Moscow.

Kiev is proposing to exchange its UAV interception systems for much more expensive air defense missiles that Gulf countries are using to deal with Iran. Kiev said they urgently need these modern air defense missile complexes to counter almost daily missile attacks from Russia.

“Protection capacity must be fully met everywhere. That is why we are always ready to cooperate. From a strategic perspective, this will certainly strengthen the peoples and protect life in our country,” Mr. Zelensky said.

In the UAE, President Zelensky met with Ukrainian anti-UAV experts, who “are working here to contribute to protecting people’s lives”.

Earlier this month, Mr. Zelensky said 201 Ukrainian anti-UAV military experts had or were on their way to the Middle East to support the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

After the defense agreement between Kiev and Abu Dhabi was announced, the Iranian military said it had targeted a warehouse of Ukrainian anti-UAV systems in the UAE. Tehran accuses this arsenal of weapons being used to support US forces.

“When the hideout of US commanders and soldiers in Dubai was targeted, a warehouse of Ukrainian anti-UAV systems located in Dubai to support US troops was attacked and destroyed,” the Iranian army’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Command said.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy immediately rejected Iran’s statement, calling it “lies” and “false information”, and accused Tehran of carrying out fake news tactics.

Iran has recently repeatedly attacked Israel and US bases in the Gulf in response to the campaign attacking this country. Iran accuses its Middle Eastern neighbors of allowing US forces to carry out attacks on Iran from their territory.

However, Gulf countries have repeatedly denied and affirmed that they will not allow their territory or airspace to be used to attack Iran.

The war between the US – Israel and Iran has entered its second month, killing more than 3,000 people and disrupting the global economy. Diplomatic efforts are being promoted to end the fighting, after President Trump announced a postponement of plans to strike Iran’s power plants.