Zelenskyy reveals vision for defense exports in exchange for scarce air defense missiles
Kyiv • UNN
Zelenskyy announced the possibility of exporting surplus systems and exchanging expertise with partners. Ukraine seeks to obtain air defense missiles from countries in the region.
After sending experts to the Middle East to counter drone attacks, Ukraine is ready to sell its surplus systems to partners and wants Middle Eastern countries to give Ukraine the opportunity to strengthen its defenses. They have some deficit missiles for air defense, so we would like to negotiate this, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as reported by UNN.
Now we are talking about future supplies of some things that Ukraine has. We want Middle Eastern countries to give us the opportunity to strengthen ourselves as well. They have some air defense missiles that we are short of. We would like to negotiate this.
According to the President, "money is the most scarce thing today." "Currently, our defense industry is half-loaded, and we need more funding to produce drones for ourselves. Therefore, we are ready to sell the systems we have in surplus to our partners. And we not only sell, we will give them our expertise. Interceptor drones do not work without our expertise. The system works," Zelenskyy said.
He reiterated that "the United States of America has approached us regarding their bases in the Middle Eastern countries," as well as "Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait."
"We are already working with some, and our expert teams are already on the ground: assessing the situation, sharing invaluable experience. Because no matter how many Patriots, THAADs, and other air defense systems there are in the Middle East, it will not be enough for full air defense operations. There are modern interceptors that must work against dense drone attacks," the President noted.