Zelenskyy visits Gulf Arab states to talk drone defense and seek strategic ties

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Zelenskyy visits Gulf Arab states to talk drone defense and seek strategic ties

2026-03-29 00:28 Last Updated At：00:30

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday made unannounced visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as Ukraine seeks to use its drone expertise to help Gulf Arab states blunt Iran's attacks during the war in the Middle East.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has already signed 10-year security agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and expects to shortly finalize a similar agreement with the UAE.

Ukraine has quickly grown into one of the world’s leading producers of cutting-edge, battle-tested drone interceptors that are cheap and effective. They are playing a key part in its defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.

In return for its aid to Gulf countries, Ukraine is seeking more high-end air-defense missiles that they possess and that Kyiv needs to counter Russia’s attacks. On Thursday, Zelenskyy visited Saudi Arabia,, and last week he said that Ukraine is looking into whether it can play a role in restoring security in the Strait of Hormuz.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy and Emirati state media reported on a meeting between the Ukrainian president and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to discuss regional security amid the Iran war.

Zelenskyy later posted on X to say that he had moved on to Doha and met with Qatari leaders, including with the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

The Ukrainian and Qatari ministers of defense signed cooperation agreements in the defense sector and defense investments, according to the Qatar Ministry of Defense.

“Real security is built on partnership — we value everyone and remain open to supporting all those who are ready to work together for this goal,” Zelenskyy wrote alongside a video of himself disembarking a plane in Qatar.

The war in the Middle East erupted on Feb. 28 when the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran. The Islamic Republic retaliated with strikes against Israel and the Gulf Arab States and the blockading of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway. The war has upended global travel and sent oil prices soaring as its economic fallout extended well beyond the region.

Last week, Zelenskyy revealed that Kyiv is helping five countries — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — counter Tehran’s drone strikes on their territory.

“For Ukraine, this is also a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world. Protection must be sufficient everywhere,” he said on X following his meeting with the Emirati leader.

He added they had discussed “the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market”.

Zelenskyy told reporters that his government is seeking to build long-term strategic ties with Middle Eastern countries, including joint production, investment, energy cooperation and the sharing of battlefield experience.

“Simple sales do not interest us,” he said at a live briefing held on Zoom on Saturday.

While Ukraine remains short of high-end air defense systems, such as Patriot missiles, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv has developed an “integrated” defense model that effectively protects against Iranian-made Shahed drones.

Tehran sent large numbers of the attack drones to Russia early in the war. Since then, Moscow has modified them to improve their effectiveness, begun domestic production, and repeatedly launched the drones in waves at Ukrainian cities.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is offering Gulf Arab partners “combat-tested” expertise, and has already signed 10-year security deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The agreement with Qatar involves “joint defense industry projects, the establishment of coproduction facilities, and technological partnerships between companies," Zelenskyy said in an X post.

At a media briefing, the Ukrainian leader said that he expects a similar agreement with the UAE to follow shortly.

He also told reporters that Ukraine had received “no signals" from the U.S. about potential diversions of weapons, including those funded by Kyiv's European partners, from Ukraine to the Middle East.

His comments followed weeks of speculation that the Iran war could detract attention from Ukraine, deplete Western arsenals and force NATO allies to reduce military support for Kyiv.

Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, brought on by damage to oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf and Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point.

Zelenskyy also pushed back on recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Friday dismissed as “a lie” the Ukrainian leader's claim that Washington wants Kyiv to hand over territory to Russia before giving it security guarantees.

Zelenskyy said his earlier statements, made in an interview with Reuters, reflected the “general direction” of talks.

“I have not lied to anyone,” he said, adding that Rubio may have misconstrued his comments.

Zelenskyy stressed that the U.S. has not directly pressured Kyiv to withdraw troops from the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland long coveted by Moscow.

Russian forces occupy the bulk of the region, but they have not seized a strip of land that is among the most heavily fortified parts of the front line. Kyiv fears that Moscow could use that territory as a launchpad for further aggression.

But Zelenskyy said he was worried by Washington’s insistence that Ukraine would only receive guarantees following a comprehensive peace agreement, not a ceasefire deal. Kyiv claims that Russia has refused to end the war unless it can take over all of the Donbas.

Russia launched more than 270 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing at least five people, Ukrainian authorities reported on Saturday.

Two people were killed and at least 11 more were wounded in a nighttime Russian drone strike on Odesa, according to the head of the region, Serhii Lysak. Zelenskyy said that the “massive” strike on Odesa involved more than 60 drones.

Russia's overnight strikes also killed two men and wounded two other people in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine, after a drone hit an industrial facility, regional head Oleksandr Gandzha said in a Telegram update. He didn't specify what the industrial building was.

One person was killed overnight in the Poltava region, also in central Ukraine, as Russia struck industrial sites there, regional authorities reported on Saturday. Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz said that a production facility was hit.

In Russia, a child died after a Ukrainian drone hit a private house in Russia’s western Yaroslavl region, local Gov. Mikhail Evraev reported early Saturday. According to Evraev’s Telegram post, the child’s parents were hospitalized with serious injuries after the attack.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that 155 Ukrainian drones were shot down during the night over Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Hanna Arhirova contributed to this report.

Pope visits Monaco to urge its people to reject idolatry of power and wealth fueling wars

MONACO (AP) — Pope Leo XIV urged residents of the principality of Monaco on Saturday to use their wealth and influence for good and reject the “idolatry of power and money” that is fueling wars around the world.

Leo made a one-day trip to the glitzy Mediterranean enclave, becoming the first pope to visit since Pope Paul III came in 1538.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene met Leo at the Monaco heliport, just down the coast from the marina that is home to the megayachts of the rich and famous. To celebrate his arrival, a cannon boomed in a ceremonial salute and boats in the marina sounded foghorns that at one point interrupted Leo’s remarks.

At the palace, members of the royal family stood in the courtyard to greet Leo, the women dressed in black and with lace head coverings. Charlene wore white — a protocol privilege granted by the Vatican to Catholic royal sovereigns when meeting popes, known in diplomatic terms as "le privilège du blanc."

In his opening greeting from the palace balcony, Leo urged Monaco to use its wealth, influence and “gift of smallness” to do good in the world.

It was important, he said in French, “especially at a historical moment when the display of power and the logic of oppression are harming the world and jeopardizing peace.”

Speaking later in the cathedral, Leo urged Monaco's Catholics to spread their faith “so that the life of every man and woman may be defended and promoted from conception until natural death,” he said.

Such terms are used by the Vatican to refer to Catholic teaching opposing abortion and euthanasia.

Monaco is one of the few European countries where Catholicism is the official state religion. Prince Albert recently refused a proposal to legalize abortion, citing the important role Catholicism plays in Monaco’s society.

The decision was largely symbolic because abortion is a constitutional right in France, which surrounds the coastal principality of 2.2 square kilometers (about 1 square mile).

But in refusing to allow it in Monaco, Albert joined other European Catholic royals who have taken a similar stand over the years to uphold Catholic doctrine on an increasingly secular continent. When Pope Francis visited Belgium in 2024, he announced he was putting the late King Baudouin on the path to possible sainthood because he abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion.

A coastal playground for the rich and famous, Monaco is renowned as much for its tax-friendly incentives and Formula 1 Grand Prix as its glamorous royal family. The son of the late American actress Grace Kelly, Albert spoke in perfect, unaccented English when he greeted Leo at the heliport. Leo was heard noting that he landed three minutes late.

Leo’s visit was designed to highlight how small states such as Monaco and the Holy See can punch above their weight on the global stage. Leo used his homily at Mass in the Monaco stadium to do just that, urging the faithful to reject the type of idolatry that has enslaved people in cycles of war and injustice.

Today’s wars, “stained with blood, are the fruit of the idolatry of power and money.,” he said. “Let us not grow accustomed to the clamor of weapons and images of war! Peace is not merely a balance of power; it is the work of purified hearts, of those who see others as brothers and sisters to be protected, not enemies to be defeated.”

Though small, Monaco has made its mark as a strong campaigner for environmental protection as well as a supporter of initiatives to help Christians in the Middle East. It is a partner in the Aliph Foundation, which works in particular to rebuild and restore churches and other sites of cultural importance that get damaged or destroyed by conflict.

The government has also been a longtime supporter of church projects in Lebanon organized by l’Œuvre d’Orient, a French-based group that supports bishops, priests and religious orders working in 23 countries.

Monaco’s population of 38,000 is heavily Catholic and multinational, with only a fifth of the population actually citizens of the principality. On a sunny spring day, many people flocked to the palace grounds to greet Leo, and some lined the streets to wave Vatican and Monaco flags as his open-sided popemobile passed by.

Claudine Fiori, Monaco resident, said it was a privilege and an emotional boost to welcome a pope.

“His Highness invited him and he came and it was a beautiful surprise," Fiori said. "Thanks to the pope for coming here.”

Enrico Doja, a Monaco resident of Italian origin, said he appreciated that Leo spoke in French throughout the day.

“This means that he is close to the people," he said. "And nowadays the world is unfortunately run mainly by people who are ‘one man show,’ and his role is to say ‘we have to do things together.’ ”

Winfield reported from Rome.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.