Military cooperation with Middle Eastern countries, ceasefire and peace talks. The main points from Zelenskyiʼs conversation with journalists

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke with journalists on March 30 following his trip to the Middle East. Babel reports the main statements.

On the Middle East

Zelenskyi visited Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Jordan. During these visits, Ukraine concluded a number of 10-year strategic agreements on cooperation in the military and other areas. Ukraine plans to export not only interceptor drones, but also defense lines, software, electronic warfare systems, naval drones, etc. There are also agreements on energy support for Ukraine from the Gulf countries.

Ukraine is also ready to share its experience in unblocking sea routes, which could help with the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, which is currently being blocked by Iran: "We shared the experience of the Black Sea Corridor, how it functions. They understand that it turned out very productive for our Armed Forces to unblock the Black Sea Corridor. We are sharing these details."

On peace negotiations

Ukraine is ready to meet in any format and at any location, except Russia and Belarus. The trilateral meeting is being postponed because the US is now focused on Iran.

"There will be a trilateral meeting when both sides, Russia and the US, can meet with us. Today, the USA has proposed to meet in the United States, and we have supported it. Russia said that they do not meet in America. Russia proposed Turkey or Switzerland, America said that the negotiating team is not leaving the United States at the moment," the president said.

At the same time, Zelenskyi does not believe the negotiations have reached a dead end and insists that the trilateral meetings continue.

On the energy truce

Against the backdrop of a severe global energy crisis, Ukraine has received signals from some partners to scale back its responses to the oil and energy sectors of the Russian Federation.

"I emphasize once again that if Russia is ready not to strike at Ukrainian energy, we will not respond with their energy. We are ready to talk, you remember, about any ceasefire. A complete ceasefire. An energy ceasefire. A ceasefire [in the format of] food security and energy, that is, both the sea and the sky. Completely — so that neither missiles nor drones fly. Do not strike at infrastructure. We have proposed all this. And we are open. If the "Russians" are ready, please, we are ready. Let them propose at any time, we are ready to resolve this issue," Zelenskyi emphasized.

On the criticism of Ukrainian drones by the CEO of Rheinmetall

"It sounds strange. If every housewife in Ukraine can really produce drones, then every housewife in Ukraine can be the CEO of Rheinmetall. Today, we need to compete not with rhetoric, but with technology, and we show the results of these technologies every day on the battlefield: on the ground, in the sky, and at sea," Zelenskyi emphasized.

On the Easter Truce

Ukraine supports both a ceasefire for the Easter holidays and any other ceasefire formats.

"In my opinion, to be honest, normal people who respect life talk about a ceasefire and an end to the war for life, not for a few days. But, of course, we are ready for any compromises, except for compromises with our, as I said, dignity and sovereignty," Zelenskyi noted.

When asked whether Russia would use such a pause to strengthen its positions, the president said: "They wonʼt be able to strengthen anything in two or three days. We remember what they promised in three days and what they couldnʼt do."