(March 28): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he’s using a Middle East trip to lock in lucrative long-term agreements on military cooperation and seek secure fuel supplies.
Ukraine signed 10-year defence agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar and plans to formalise a similar agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Zelenskiy told reporters on a call from Qatar on Saturday. The deals are worth “billions,” he said without elaborating.
While Ukraine is seeking to reap benefits from sharing anti-drone expertise and technology with Persian Gulf countries as they face drone attacks from Iran, the war-torn country also wants to secure fuel supplies to guard against global supply constraints.
Zelenskiy said he signed a deal for more than a year of diesel supplies on Friday, when he visited Saudi Arabia and UAE. He didn’t elaborate.
“We need long-term agreements with energy countries,” Zelenskiy said.
With energy markets in turmoil over Iranian strikes on energy infrastructure in the Middle East, Ukraine repeatedly hit oil infrastructure in Russia in a bid to curb Kremlin’s ability to finance war and retaliate for aerial barrages against Ukrainian energy assets.
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Only 40% of capacity at the crucial Russian Baltic oil port of Ust-Luga remains intact after recent Ukrainian strikes, Zelenskiy said.
“Russia needs to stop striking our energy, in which case we won’t be retaliating,” he said.
With the war against Iran increasingly consuming US military resources and the attention of President Donald Trump, there’s concern that military supplies meant for Ukraine could be diverted to the Middle East.
See also: Crude oil drives higher as traders brace for longer Mideast war
Zelenskiy said he doesn’t see signs of the US shifting pledged aid away from Ukraine and expressed hope that it also won’t happen as the Iran war grinds on.
Ukraine, which has been fighting a Russian invasion since 2022, doesn’t plan to get directly involved in the Middle East conflict between Iran and the US and Israel, he said.
“We don’t discuss the participation of our troops in another war,” Zelenskiy said. “We have enough of our own war.”
Zelenskiy’s Middle Eastern push comes amid uncertainty about a €90 billion (US$104 billion) European Union loan that’s held up by a Hungarian veto and threatens to put Ukrainian finances in limbo, including its ability to purchase weapons.
Boosting relations with the Middle East can’t be seen as replacing the EU loan, Zelenskiy said. Ukraine is counting on the loan, including the €45 billion disbursement it expects this year to cover pressing budget needs and military purchases.
“Europe needs to be stronger than any single leader who has anti-European views,” Zelenskiy said.
Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy
