Executive Summary:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a March 27 defense agreement with Saudi Arabia, highlighting Ukraine’s growing role as a provider of military expertise, technology, and joint production capabilities shaped by real-world combat experience.
- Conflict in the Middle East is generating increased interest in Ukraine’s military experience from Gulf countries. In March, Kyiv sent more than 200 of its air defense experts as advisors to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
- Ukraine is evolving from simply a military aid recipient to an exporter of military technology and strategy expertise, which Kyiv leverages to strengthen political and defense–diplomatic partnerships.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on March 27 that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had signed a cooperation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense. The agreement will open a path for technological cooperation, joint defense projects, and military production. According to Zelenskyy, it could be mutually beneficial for both countries (X/@ZelenskyyUa, March 27). This agreement highlights Ukraine’s prominence in military–technical expertise and strengthens Ukraine’s security diplomacy.
Operation Epic Fury and wider conflict in the Middle East generated increased interest in Ukraine’s military experience from Gulf countries. Ukraine has been combating Iranian-style drones and ballistic missiles—albeit from Russia—for more than four years. In March, Kyiv sent more than 200 of its air defense experts as advisors to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Saudi Arabia (YouTube/@PresidentGovUa, March 17). Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine is ready to offer similar agreements to all its partners, ranging from technical cooperation on drones to future defense alliances.
Ukrainian military experts advise partners to use cost-effective weapons and prioritize maneuvering and camouflaging air defense systems. In the Persian Gulf, U.S. partners have overused scarce and expensive anti-aircraft missiles against relatively cheap Iranian drones. One Ukrainian officer said he was surprised to hear reports that Gulf states fired as many as eight Patriot interceptor missiles—each costing over $3 million—at a single enemy target valued at about $70,000 (The Times, March 20). Additionally, because the UAE did not relocate radar positions within a single base or sufficiently camouflage them, Iran managed to strike several extremely expensive and rare Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) radar systems near Al-Ruwais (Defense Express, March 20). According to Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukrainian teams have already achieved their first successes in protecting lives in the Middle East from aerial threats (Interfax, March 25). In April 2024, then-head of U.S. European Command, General Christopher Cavoli, acknowledged that the U.S. forces are adopting Ukrainian approaches and tactics for the effective use of Patriot air defense systems (X/@ColbyBadhwar, March 25)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has recognized the value of Ukraine’s combat experience. On March 22, a NATO delegation led by Admiral Pierre Vandier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, visited Kyiv to meet with representatives of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Among the issues discussed during the visit was the continued involvement of Ukrainian military personnel in NATO exercises as a simulated adversary. During joint exercises last year, Ukrainian teams demonstrated a significant advantage (Telegram/@PavloPalisa, March 22). In May 2025, during the Hedgehog 2025 exercises, Ukrainian drone operators defeated a combined task force of several thousand NATO troops. U.K. and Estonian troops attempted to launch an assault using armored vehicles against the simulated enemy, played by the Ukrainians, but were quickly detected and destroyed by drone strikes (The Wall Street Journal, February 12).
NATO’s Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems (REPMUS) Dynamic Messenger 2025 naval exercises displayed similar results. The Ukrainian team won the exercise by successfully simulating the destruction of a frigate using Magura surface drones. For the first time in NATO history, the Ukrainian Navy commanded and coordinated the actions of “enemy” forces during the exercises, underscoring Ukraine’s growing role in NATO’s defense strategy. NATO released a statement saying, “Ukraine’s leadership brought combat realism to the exercise, driving innovation and the development of new NATO tactics” (NATO, September 29, 2025).
The AFU’s unique experience has also been recognized in Germany. According to Lieutenant General Christian Freuding, inspector of the German Army, the Bundeswehr plans to invite Ukrainian instructors to train German troops to counter a potential threat from Russia. Ukrainian specialists will work in areas such as artillery, engineering, armored operations, and drone operations. Freuding emphasized that Ukrainian instructors’ participation in Bundeswehr exercises demonstrates a “security partnership on equal terms” (DW, March 11).
The AFU has gradually phased out basic military training abroad since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Colonel Yevhen Mezhivikin, deputy chief of the Main Directorate for Doctrine and Training of the General Staff of the AFU, stated that this shift will allow the Ukrainian military to respond more quickly to changes in the situation on the front lines and avoid wasting time moving personnel from country to country (YouTube/@UkrinformPressCenter, March 20).
Ukraine’s growing role and influence in the global security and defense services market could also revive conversations about legalizing private military companies (PMCs) in Ukraine. Under existing Ukrainian law, PMCs are prohibited. The presence of many veterans with unique combat experience, as well as cutting-edge defense companies in Ukraine, creates the conditions for Ukraine to offer its expertise and services to the world. According to Fedir Serdyuk, co-founder of the defense company MOWA, PMCs could play an important role in projecting Ukraine’s influence abroad, in addition to generating revenue (Forbes.ua, July 27, 2025).
Ukraine is transforming from a recipient of military aid into a provider of security information and technology, leveraging its unique combat experience to gain geopolitical influence. This transformation is mutually beneficial, as it allows Kyiv’s partners to gain cutting-edge knowledge and technology in the defense sector to protect themselves from current conflicts better or prepare for future ones.
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