Zelensky arrives in Syria for talks with leadership amid Middle East war
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Syria on April 5, the latest in a string of visits to the Middle East in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The Ukrainian president has toured the Gulf region in recent weeks — meeting leaders in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE — as Tehran retaliates against US-Israeli operations with drone and missile strikes across the region.
Zelensky will meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria TV said.
"We continue our active Ukrainian diplomacy for the sake of real security and economic cooperation," Zelensky wrote on Telegram. "Every nation, every region, deserves a peaceful life."
Kyiv has sent specialists to the region to help counter expertise on shooting down Iranian Shahed drones.
The visit to Damascus is the first just leader-level visit since diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Syria were restored in September 2025, when Zelensky and al-Sharaa met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
On the previous stop in his Middle East tour, Zelensky met with his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Istanbul on April 4.
The leaders "agreed on new steps in security cooperation," Zelensky posted on Telegram following the talks. Ukraine is ready to support Turkey with "expertise, technology, and experience," the Ukrainian president said.
Erdogan and Zelensky also discussed projects involving gas infrastructure, including the possibility of jointly developing gas fields.
Ukraine had previously announced that it was signing 10-year defense partnerships with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
President Zelensky has explicitly tied Kyiv's assistance to the region's deep stocks of anti-ballistic missile interceptors, of which Ukraine is in short supply.
