Ukraine Forges 10-Year Defense Deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar
Framing the deals as unprecedented in scope, Zelenskyy emphasized that Kyiv had never before secured such arrangements with nations in the region.
"I believe these are historic agreements. We have agreed on strategic cooperation in the MilTech direction and other areas. We are talking about ten-year agreements," he said, noting that they concern mutual assistance and that Ukraine is particularly interested in protection against ballistic threats.
"We also have challenges related to energy, diesel, and so on. Therefore, in my opinion, all our agreements, which will be legally formalized, are very important for our state. Ukraine has never had such agreements in this region before," he added.
Zelenskyy also disclosed that National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov is currently conducting his own series of meetings across the Middle East as part of the broader diplomatic push.
The tour, which began on March 27, has taken Zelenskyy through Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Jordan. In Doha, he finalized a defense partnership agreement with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spanning at least a decade, mirroring a comparable deal struck with Riyadh. A similar agreement with the UAE is also set to be formally signed.
Turning to the stalled Russia-Ukraine peace process, Zelenskyy acknowledged that a long-anticipated trilateral meeting has been pushed back — attributing the delay to Washington's current preoccupation with the Iran conflict. Yet he firmly rejected any suggestion that negotiations had reached an impasse.
"I don't believe we are at a dead end. If this is a dead end — what next, relax and surrender?" he said.
Compounding the delay is a dispute over where talks should be held. Zelenskyy revealed that Washington had proposed hosting the meeting on American soil, an offer that Moscow rejected outright.
"We support a meeting anywhere — the US, Türkiye, Switzerland. Anywhere where the partners are ready to meet," Zelenskyy said, pledging to continue pursuing a diplomatic path while defending Ukraine's positions on the front.
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