Qatar and Ukraine on Saturday signed a defense agreement which includes cooperation on countering threats from missiles and drones, Doha said, as Iran presses an aerial campaign against its neighbors.
Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — during a previously unannounced flurry of visits to Gulf nations — said his country and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to cooperate on defense amid drones Iran launches in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes.
Ukraine also signed an air defense agreement with Saudi Arabia during Zelenskiy’s visit to the kingdom, two senior officials said on Friday.
Photo: the Qatar Amiri Diwan via AFP
OPPORTUNITY
Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations and has deployed anti-drone experts to all three countries Zelenskiy has visited during his diplomatic tour.
“The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments, and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems,” the Qatari Ministry of Defense said in a statement during Zelenskiy’s visit.
Ukraine has not disclosed what has been agreed as part of the deals.
After meetings in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Zelenskiy held talks in the UAE with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“We agreed to cooperate in the field of security and defense. Our teams will finalize the details,” Zelenskiy said on social media on Saturday.
INCREASING EXCHANGES
“For all normal states, it is important to ensure stability and protect lives amid today’s threats. Ukraine has relevant expertise in this area,” he said.
Ukraine touts its anti-drone defenses as the best in the world.
It has proposed swapping its interceptors for the vastly more expensive air-defense missiles that Gulf countries are using to down Iranian drones. Kyiv said it needs more of them to fend off near-daily Russian missile attacks.
“Protection must be sufficient everywhere. That is why we are open to joint work that, in a strategic perspective, will certainly strengthen our peoples and the protection of life in our countries,” Zelenskiy said.
In the UAE, Zelenskiy met Ukrainian anti-drone experts, who “have been working here to help in protecting lives.”
“Today, Ukraine not only needs assistance, but is also ready to support those who support us,” Zelenskiy added.
Japan is to downgrade its description of ties with China from “one of its most important” in an annual diplomatic report, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen. This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook, which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is expected to approve next month, would instead describe China as an important neighbor and the relationship as “strategic” and “mutually beneficial.” The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan. The shift in tone underscores a deterioration
A retired US colonel behind a privately financed rocket launch site in the Dominican Republic sees the project as a response to China’s dominance of the space race in Latin America. Florida-based Launch on Demand is slated to begin building a US$600 million facility in a remote region near the border with Haiti late this year. The project is designed to meet surging demand for the heavy-lift rockets needed to put clusters of satellites into orbit. It is also an answer to China’s growing presence in the region, said CEO Burton Catledge, a former commander of the US Air Force’s 45th Operations
ROCKY RELATIONS: The figures on residents come as Chinese tourist numbers drop following Beijing’s warnings to avoid traveling to Japan The number of Chinese residents in Japan has continued to rise, even as ties between the two countries have become increasingly fractious, data released on Friday showed. As of the end of December last year, the number of Chinese residents had increased by 6.5 percent from the previous year to 930,428. Chinese people accounted for 22.6 percent of all foreign residents in Japan, making them by far the largest group, Japanese Ministry of Justice data showed. Beijing has criticized Tokyo in increasingly strident terms since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year suggested that a military conflict around Taiwan could
Germany is considering Australia’s Ghost Bat robot fighter as it looks to select a combat drone to modernize its air force, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said yesterday. Germany has said it wants to field hundreds of uncrewed fighter jets by 2029, and would make a decision soon as it considers a range of German, European and US projects developing so-called “collaborative combat aircraft.” Australia has said it will integrate the Ghost Bat, jointly developed by Boeing Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force, into its military after a successful weapons test last year. After inspecting the Ghost Bat in Queensland yesterday,
RSS