Zelensky's unannounced visit to the UAE comes a day after he announced a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia, linked as the Gulf countries face Iranian drones launched by Tehran in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes. Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations and has deployed anti-drone experts to the region, including to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Zelensky said on social media he had met with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and they "agreed to cooperate in the field of security and defence. Our teams will finalise the details."

"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 defences as the best in the world. It has proposed swapping its interceptors for vastly more expensive air-defence missiles that Gulf countries are using to down Iranian drones. Kyiv says 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," Zelensky said on Saturday. (Bssnews)