Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Bahrain on Monday for talks focused on "security cooperation," according to a source within the Ukrainian delegation.
Zelensky's Bahrain visit signals that Ukraine is actively leveraging its war experience to build new partnerships © X
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Bahrain on Monday for talks focused on "security cooperation," according to a source within the Ukrainian delegation.
"We have landed. The objective of the visit is security cooperation," the source said, without providing further detail.
The visit takes place against a significant backdrop. Since the outbreak of the conflict triggered by the joint US-Israeli strikes against Iran on 28 February, several Gulf states have reportedly turned to Ukraine for assistance in intercepting Iranian drones and missiles fired at their territories — according to Kyiv.
The approach is far from surprising. Ukraine has accumulated unparalleled real-world experience in countering Iranian-made drone and missile attacks since Russia began deploying Shahed drones against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
That battlefield knowledge, covering detection, jamming, interception tactics and damage mitigation — has become one of Ukraine's most valuable strategic assets on the international stage.
For Gulf states absorbing Iranian strikes, Kyiv's expertise represents a practical and politically neutral source of assistance, one that carries no ideological baggage and comes with hard-won operational credibility.
Zelensky's Bahrain visit signals that Ukraine is actively leveraging its war experience to build new partnerships, turning the tragedy of its own conflict into a source of strategic influence at a moment when the Middle East's security architecture is being fundamentally redrawn.
Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, spiritual leader of Syria's Druze community, said Monday that Suwayda's future could take several forms, full independence, autonomy under another state's protection, or union with another country, as he marked the first anniversary of the deadly July 2025 events in the southern Syrian province.
One Indian crew member was killed and eight others were wounded when two Emirati oil tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in the Strait of Hormuz, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday, in the latest escalation in the strategic waterway.
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