Ukraine and Saudi Arabia signed a defence‑cooperation agreement during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the oil‑rich kingdom, according to CNBC. The agreement was announced as Kyiv aims to sign major defence deals with at least seven NATO countries by the end of the year, a goal reported by The Guardian.

The Guardian also reported that Kyiv has signed drone deals with six countries in recent months and that Azerbaijan, Latvia and Lithuania have signed agreements with the Ukrainian government. In addition, the Kuwait Independent noted that Kuwait approved a defence deal with Ukraine.

Kyiv has been deepening security partnerships across the Gulf region, offering to bolster local defences against Iranian drones, the Kuwait Independent reported. President Zelenskyy said Ukrainians are resisting the same kind of terrorist attacks – ballistic missiles and drones – that the Iranian regime is currently carrying out in the Middle East and the Gulf region, and added that Saudi Arabia has capabilities of interest to Ukraine and that the cooperation can be mutually beneficial, according to CNBC.