President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine wants Middle Eastern states to help Kyiv with air defense missiles in exchange for the experience of Ukrainian experts and the sale of interceptor drones.
He said this in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde.
The Head of State recalled that the United States, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait, have turned to Kyiv for expert assistance in repelling Iranian drone attacks.
“We are already working with someone, and our expert teams are already on site: assessing the situation, sharing invaluable experience. Because no matter how many Patriot, THAAD and other air defense systems there are in the Middle East, it will not be enough for the full operation of air defense. There are modern interceptors that should work against dense drone strikes,” Zelensky said.
The President informed that the Ukrainian authorities are negotiating the future supply of “some things that Ukraine has.”
“We want the Middle Eastern countries to give us the opportunity to strengthen as well. They have some air defense missiles that we have a shortage of. We would like to negotiate about this. Money is the most scarce thing today. Now our defense industry is half-loaded, and we need more funding to produce drones for ourselves. Therefore, we are ready to sell those systems that we have in surplus to our partners,” he explained.
Zelensky stressed that Kyiv “is not only selling,” but will also provide its expertise, because interceptor drones “do not work” without it, because, they say, it is a “system.”
The president previously stated that 228 Ukrainian specialists are in the Middle East, assisting local air defense forces in combating Iranian strike drones. He also reported that Ukraine has received 11 requests from Iran's neighboring countries, European states, and the United States for security support in countering Iranian “shaheeds” and other similar challenges.