The United Arab Emirates is not selling military equipment to Ukraine, despite earlier statements by Kiev officials, the UAE Foreign Ministry said.
“An agreement on cooperation in defense technologies the UAE
and Ukraine signed recently does not stipulate any contracts for
deliveries of weaponry to the Ukrainian side,” said Faraj
Faris al-Mazrouei, adviser to UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin
Zayed Al Nahyan.
The deal was only one element in a future system of cooperation
between the two countries in the field of defense technologies,
RIA Novosti reported al-Mazrouei as saying, citing the Emarat
Al-Yawm news portal.
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MORE: E. Ukraine artillery withdrawal focus of FMs meeting – as
Poroshenko buys UAE weapons
The UAE and Ukraine signed a memorandum of understanding on
military-technical cooperation during the IDEX-2015 defense
exhibition in Abu Dhabi earlier this week.
After the signing, an advisor to Ukrainian Interior Minister
Arsen Avakov, Anton Gerashchenko, wrote on social networks that
this cooperation would include “the supply of certain types of
arms and military equipment to Ukraine” by the UAE.
“The types and volumes of supplies, as you can imagine, are
not for disclosure on Facebook,” Gerashchenko said.
The advisor stressed that “unlike Europeans and Americans,
the Arabs aren’t afraid of Putin’s threats of a third world war
starting in case of arms and ammunition supplies to
Ukraine.”
Gerashchenko declared that weapons supplies to Ukraine will be
UAE’s “little revenge” to Moscow, which, he alleged, Abu
Dhabi blames for the recent drop in oil prices.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has claimed that Kiev signed
about 20 contracts on arms supplies at the recent International
Defense Exhibition fair, IDEX-2015.
“Deals to supply of defensive weapons to Ukraine have been
signed with European, American and Middle Eastern
companies,” Poroshenko said.
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US arming Kiev would ‘explode’ situation in E. Ukraine – Russian
Foreign Ministry
Kiev has signed new military contracts, despite the a military
conflict in Eastern Ukraine with withdrawal of heavy weaponry
currently being under way there in accordance with the Minsk-2
peace deal from February 11.
Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama also said that his
administration is considering arming Ukrainian troops fighting
against the rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.
The Ukrainian military conflict began in April 2014, after Kiev
sent its military to southeastern regions of the country that
refused to recognize the new coup-imposed authorities in the
capital. Nearly a year of fighting has led to least 5,793 killed
and another 14,595 people wounded, according to UN estimates.