“We raised this issue, because it is a painful and urgent one — as we can all see, for the entire world. There is an energy crisis. They know they can rely on our expertise in this area, and we discussed it in detail,” Zelenskyy told journalists during a WhatsApp group chat on Monday, News.Az reports, citing Politico.
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“We shared our experience with the Black Sea corridor and how it operates. They understand that our Armed Forces have been highly effective in unblocking the Black Sea corridor,” Zelenskyy added.
During his recent trip to the Middle East, where Ukraine struck several long-term defense agreements, Zelenskyy made it clear he did not want just to sell Ukrainian weapons.
Instead, Kyiv is pushing its in-depth defense expertise as something that would be very useful in the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG supplies which is being blocked by Iran in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding that Iran reopen the strait. He’s also insisting that allies help — although he regularly pivots to denounce them and ridicule their armed forces.
Over 20 nations have agreed to help U.S.-led efforts to unblock the strait, but they’re not eager to get involved in a shooting war with Iran.
Ukraine says there’s another way.
It’s touting how it dealt with Russia in the Black Sea, where in 2023 Russia blocked Ukraine’s grain exports, creating a global food crisis. However, Ukraine managed to sink much of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and chased the remnants far from its waters.
Although the three Ukrainian ports in Odesa region still experience Russian missile and drone strikes, they’re visited by about 200 cargo ships a month, said Andrii Klymenko, head of the monitoring group on the situation in the Black Sea region with the Institute for Black Sea Strategic Studies.
“Ukraine managed to create a complex system of cargo ship protection from all kinds of threats on the sea route from the territorial waters of Romania to the Odesa region,” Klymenko said. “I call it a tunnel.”
Ukraine hasn’t gone into details about its strategy, but the system includes defense from air attacks, protection from sea mines and joint work by coastal artillery, the air force and other units, Klymenko said.
A crucial factor were the sea drones used against the Russian fleet.
“As of today, Ukraine’s marine drones are not only kamikaze boats, but also platforms that can carry machine guns, rocket launchers and FPV drones,” Ihor Fedirko, CEO of Ukraine’s Council of Defence Industry, told POLITICO.
The drones have also shot down Russian helicopters and jet fighters.
As well as military means, Ukraine is also involved in insurance markets to ensure that docking at its ports is not prohibitively expensive.
In November 2023, the Ukrainian government introduced the Unity Facility program, sharing insurance costs for non-military cargo vessels in the Black Sea with key ship insurance companies such as Lloyd’s of London and Marsh McLennan. The program was extended in March.
That combination could be effective in the Gulf.
“Right now, Ukraine has a ready-made ecosystem, fully systemic solution for protecting marine areas and airspace,” Fedirko said.
