Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Azerbaijan on Friday for talks on security and energy, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP. The visit follows a trip to Saudi Arabia, where Zelenskyy met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah to discuss security issues. Kyiv and Baku enjoy warm relations, with Azerbaijan repeatedly expressing support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sending humanitarian aid since the Russian invasion in 2022. Ties between Moscow and Baku have soured over the past year after an Azerbaijani passenger plane was mistakenly hit by a Russian anti-aircraft missile in 2024, killing 38 people.
Zelenskyy Seeks to Share Drone Expertise
In Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy aimed to share Kyiv’s drone expertise with Gulf countries affected by the war in Iran. He stated that Ukraine is “actively developing” its strategic security arrangement across three key areas: exports of Ukrainian military expertise and air defence capabilities, energy cooperation to help Ukraine, and food security. US weapons deliveries to Ukraine have not stopped despite the Iran war, and Ukrainian long-range strikes continue to hammer Russian oil production and manufacturing plants. “Of course, we are hitting what is painful for Russia, and it is very painful,” Zelenskyy said in voice messages to reporters, adding that Russian losses from the strikes have reached tens of billions of dollars. Russian officials have reported attacks striking infrastructure in regions more than 1,000 km inside Russia.
Prisoner Swap and Military Issues
Russia and Ukraine on Friday swapped 193 captured soldiers each, the second exchange this month in one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv. The two countries have exchanged thousands of prisoners of war throughout the four-year conflict, with swaps often being the only result of otherwise stalled peace talks. Photos of Ukrainian prisoners getting off buses at the scene of the swap in northern Ukraine showed them looking pale but relieved, wrapped in blue and yellow flags, embracing each other, or crying on the phone to loved ones. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defence ministry fired a top commander after photos emerged of a group of emaciated soldiers left on the frontline for months without proper food and water. The scandal erupted after the wife of one of the soldiers posted images on social media showing four men with prominent ribcages and thin arms. Ukraine’s general staff said it replaced the commander responsible for feeding the soldiers, and the brigade acknowledged logistical problems, noting deliveries were only possible by air due to the location being extremely close to enemy lines.
EU Accession and German Spy Investigation
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday there was no prospect of Ukraine’s “immediate accession” to the EU but suggested Kyiv could join meetings of the bloc’s members without voting rights. Ukraine is pushing to speed up its bid to join the 27-nation European Union as it fights Russia’s invasion. Kyiv’s progress has been blocked by Hungary’s nationalist premier Viktor Orbán, but his defeat in elections earlier this month raised hopes for movement to the next step. German prosecutors on Friday launched a spying investigation into phishing attacks targeting lawmakers on the Signal messaging app, with an MP saying the latest Russia-directed plot against Germany was a “wake-up call”. Germany, Kyiv’s biggest provider of military aid, has been battling a surge of cyber-attacks, espionage, and sabotage plots since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Moscow denies being behind any such actions.
