Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Damascus on April 5 and met Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa as Kyiv continues to share its military expertise in the Middle East amid the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran.
In recent weeks, Zelenskyy has visited several countries in the Middle East and offered Ukrainian expertise in countering drone and missile attacks.
Since the United States and Israel launched air strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran has responded with missile and drone strikes on U.S. bases in the region and on allies of Washington, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Iranians and Russians were close allies of the Assad regime in Syria, which collapsed in December 2024.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said there was strong interest from the Syrians in exchanging military and security experience.
Writing on his Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said he held bilateral talks with the Syrians and trilateral talks that involved Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
“We agreed to work together to provide more security and opportunities for development for our societies,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“We are building new relations, new opportunities, and expanding work for security.”
He said they had discussed security and defense issues and agreed to work together on food security.
Food Security Issues
Zelenskyy said Ukraine, which is a major grain producer, wanted to export to Syria and help alleviate food security issues.
When the Assad regime was in charge, Syria was heavily reliant on imports of Russian wheat, because other countries faced sanctions if they supplied Damascus.
But on June 30, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump revoked those sanctions, allowing for the first import of Romanian barley, which took place in August 2025.
In a post on X, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the visit a “milestone” and said the talks focused on logistics and the security of trade and maritime routes.
“We agreed that ensuring their resilience is a shared priority,” Sybiha said.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said on March 20 that Kyiv had deployed interceptor units to protect infrastructure from Iranian drone attacks in five Middle East nations.
Anti-Drone Experience
As a result of the four-year war with Russia, the Ukrainians have extensive experience in shooting down drones, often using smaller unmanned aerial vehicles, machine guns, or jamming equipment to cause them to drop out of the sky.
During the conflict in eastern and southern Ukraine, the Russians have deployed thousands of drones based on Iranian-designed “Shaheds.”
In a post on X on March 4, Zelenskyy said several Persian Gulf nations were now facing similar attacks.
“All of them face a serious challenge and speak openly about it: Iranian attack drones are the same ‘shaheds’ that have been striking our cities, villages, and our Ukrainian infrastructure throughout this war,” he said.
Ukraine has pioneered the development of unmanned aerial vehicle interceptors that cost as little as $1,000.
When Damascus fell in December 2024, al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had been designated a terrorist group by the United States.
But in July 2025, the U.S. State Department revoked that designation, and on Nov. 10, al-Sharaa was welcomed to the White House by Trump.
Zelenskyy visited Istanbul on April 4 and said Ukraine and Turkey had discussed the possibility of joint gas infrastructure projects and even developing gas fields together.
Kyiv signed long-term military cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia on March 27 and with Qatar on March 28, and Kyiv also discussed a similar deal with the UAE.
Syria is still home to a Russian naval base at Tartus and an air force base at nearby Khmeimim, but al-Sharaa has said he wants to turn them into Syrian army training centers.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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