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Ukraine has secured decade-long defense agreements with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced, in what he described as an unprecedented shift in Kyiv's relationship with the Gulf region. Speaking on the United News telethon, Zelenskyy said Kyiv has already received requests from 11 countries, concentrated in the Middle East and the Gulf, and is also beginning to extend its focus to the Caucasus.
The agreements come as a significant turn for a country that had effectively banned weapons exports since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with all domestic production directed to the war effort. That restriction was lifted in September 2025, opening the door to the commercial partnerships Zelenskyy is now formalizing.
At the center of the initiative is what Zelenskyy called a "Drone Deal," a framework encompassing at least 10 separate agreements across different categories of Ukrainian weapons exports.
The arrangement includes co-production commitments under which Ukrainian manufacturing lines would be established both inside Ukraine and in partner countries. It also covers jointly developed technologies funded by partner nations, as well as fixed annual financial contributions over a set number of years, Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine's drone industry has expanded rapidly since 2022. The country produced between 2.5 million and 4 million drones in 2025 and is targeting around 7 million in 2026, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. That output has far outpaced what domestic defense budgets can absorb, creating the surplus capacity that makes export deals commercially viable.
Gulf interest in Ukrainian systems has been driven in particular by the proliferation of Iranian-designed Shahed-type attack drones across the region. The same drone model forms the basis of the Russian-made variants Ukraine has spent years defending against, giving Kyiv a depth of operational experience that Gulf states are now seeking to access.
Ukraine has deployed more than 200 counter-drone specialists across regional partners including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, and Kuwait, Zelenskyy confirmed separately in the days surrounding his Gulf tour.
On the European track, Zelenskyy said work is already underway with Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands, and expressed confidence that agreements with the United Kingdom and France would also be implemented, describing existing relations with both countries as strong.
The groundwork for this push has been laid over the past year. In February 2026, Zelenskyy announced plans to open 10 Ukrainian weapons export centers across Europe, including production of Ukrainian-designed drones in Germany.
Ukraine has signed 28 bilateral security agreements with partner countries and the European Union, providing the legal framework for defense co-operation with countries including Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Co-production arrangements of this kind typically involve technology transfer and shared manufacturing capacity, embedding Ukrainian companies and their designs into allied supply chains while distributing production risk away from Ukrainian territory.
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