On March 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kiev's drone experts will be present in the Middle East this week. The above move is part of Ukraine's efforts to exchange for an air defense missile supply from the US in the context of the depleted interceptor ammunition stockpile.
Kiev is currently facing a serious shortage of PAC-3 missiles, which are expensive. Ukrainian leaders fear that the prolonged conflict in the Middle East will cause the US to prioritize transferring military resources to this region. Therefore, sharing real combat experience against Shahed drones is considered a strategic "item" for Ukraine to maintain support from the US and Gulf ally.
Ukraine's experience in dealing with drones is considered unique after more than 4 years of continuously resisting attacks from Russia. Sending experts to the Middle East is a strategic move to open up new defense partnerships.
However, experts warn that exporting human resources and technology while the arms market is tightened may cause difficulties for the Ukrainian military itself in the domestic battlefield. Kiev is carefully considering between supporting allies and ensuring national defense capabilities.
In parallel with the plan in the Middle East, Mr. Zelensky also discussed with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten about joint arms production cooperation. The Netherlands is currently the country contributing up to 870 million USD to the PURL program, supporting Europe to buy US weapons for Ukraine.
The two leaders agreed to expand production scale so that Kiev can be more autonomous in supply, instead of completely relying on aid, which is becoming precarious due to the change in priorities of the White House.
According to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global arms flows have increased by nearly 10% in the past 5 years. Notably, the amount of weapons imported into Europe has tripled since the outbreak of war, turning this region into the world's largest arms receiving area. This trend shows that countries are racing to arms to both supply Kiev and strengthen defense capabilities against direct threats from Russia.
On the battlefield, pressure from drones has not cooled down when the Russian Ministry of Defense said it intercepted 234 Ukrainian drones in just 9 hours.
These developments confirm that drones are shaping the modern conflict situation, and Ukraine's experience in the Middle East is the most expensive "item" for Kiev to exchange for additional supply for the national air defense network.
