Zelensky to ink air security deal with KSA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for an unannounced visit, as the war in Iran spurs interest among Gulf countries in Ukrainian arms technology.

The two countries are set to sign an agreement on "security cooperation - in particular, the protection of the skies", later on Thursday, a senior official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They did not provide further details of what was set to be in the accord.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine. Zelensky has said that more than 200 Ukrainian anti-drone experts have been deployed to several countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, since the US-Israel strikes on Iran spurred retaliatory drone and missile attacks targetting US assets and bases from Tehran.

While Tehran accepts responsibility for some of the attacks, it denies having a role in others, including in Saudi Arabia.