KYIV, March 29 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed a possible security partnership on Sunday with Jordan’s King Abdullah over defending against drone attacks amid rising tensions over the Iran conflict.
“We discussed a possible partnership in the security sphere and the overall situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region,” Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
Zelenskiy is seeking support from Gulf states for Ukraine’s war against Russia as Western military aid faces fresh uncertainty and Kyiv struggles to cover its budget deficit and fund domestic weapons production.
Kyiv has offered its air-defence expertise and drone technology to countries seeking to counter Iran’s drone attacks.
“From our own experience, we know that without a unified system, it is simply impossible to set up full-fledged protection of people and critical infrastructure,” Zelenskiy wrote.
Ukraine, he said, had just such a system as in four years of war “we have had to fight against constant Russian strikes, including the use of Iranian drones”.
He said Ukraine was offering expertise in the expectation that “those to whom we are making this proposal can help us strengthen ourselves”.
Ukraine agreed on Saturday to cooperate on defence with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar after a visit to both countries by Zelenskiy, who also travelled to Saudi Arabia last week.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk. Editing by Mark Potter, Ron Popeski and Deepa Babington)
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