Zelenskyy meets Syrian president in Damascus

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DAMASCUS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday (Apr 5), after arriving in Damascus alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The visit follows Zelenskyy's trip to Turkey on Saturday and a Gulf tour last week, against the backdrop of the war in the Middle East, where he sought to clinch security deals and exchange Ukrainian drone expertise for air defence missiles.

Zelenskyy said in an X post that the two leaders "went over the circumstances of Russia's war against Ukraine - I am grateful for the support. There is strong interest in exchanging military and security experience."

"We also touched on Ukraine's role as a reliable supplier of food products and discussed joint opportunities to strengthen food security across the region," he added.

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Ukraine, which is battling relentless Russian drone and missile barrages daily, urgently needs US Patriot air defence ammunition and fears supplies may sink due to the Middle East war. 

Kyiv has therefore sought to leverage its expertise in countering Russian drones, similar to those Iran has used in retaliatory attacks across Gulf nations.

Last week, Zelenskyy visited several Middle Eastern countries and signed defence agreements with Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Russia was a key ally of Sharaa's predecessor Bashar al‑Assad, now exiled in Moscow, during Syria's 14‑year civil war, supporting him with airstrikes.

But the new Syrian leader, who once commanded rebels against Assad, has appeared to maintain balanced relations with Moscow.

In January, he met President Vladimir Putin and so far has not asked Russia to withdraw from its military bases on Syrian soil.

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