The US and Qatar are negotiating the possible purchase of Ukrainian interceptor drones designed to destroy Shahed-type strike UAVs, amid growing interest among allies in cheaper air defense systems, Reuters reports.
According to the agency, the talks concern, in particular, SkyFall’s P1-SUN interceptor. A company representative told Reuters that deliveries are only possible with the “green light” from the Ukrainian government and on condition that the export does not reduce Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.
Reuters notes that SkyFall’s production capacity allows it to produce up to 50,000 interceptors per month, and potential exports without harming Ukraine’s needs are estimated at 5,000-10,000 units.
The effectiveness of this class of air defense systems is confirmed by Ukrainian statistics: according to the Ukrainian military, in February, 70% of drones shot down in and around Kyiv were destroyed by interceptor drones.
The cost of interceptors is significantly lower than traditional air defense systems. Reuters reports that SkyFall sells the P1-SUN to the Ukrainian military for approximately $1,000 (depending on the configuration), while PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot system can cost up to $4 million per unit.
The price of gold and other precious metals rose sharply on Monday due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
By 9:57 a.m. ET, April gold futures on the Comex exchange rose about 3.3% to $5,418 per ounce.
Silver futures rose 3.3% to $96.38 per ounce, and platinum futures rose 2% to $2,422 per ounce.
As reported, on Saturday, the US and Israel launched military action against Iran. They carried out more than a thousand missile strikes on Iranian cities, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and a number of Persian Gulf countries. In particular, residential areas of the capital of Bahrain were affected, and damage to a number of hotels and the airport in Dubai was reported.
Meanwhile, the price of aluminum on the London Metal Exchange jumped nearly 3% on Monday to $3,231 per ton. It is noted that Iran’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, are major aluminum producers. According to AZ China, the Middle East accounts for about 9% of global production of this metal.
Earlier, the Experts Club analytical center presented an analysis of the world’s leading gold-producing countries in its video on YouTube channel — https://youtube.com/shorts/DWbzJ1e2tJc?si=BywddHO-JFWFqUFA
EXPERTS CLUB, GOLD, IRAN, ISRAEL, USA
Romania and the U.S. company Critical Metals Corp have agreed to prepare a project to create in Romania facilities for processing rare-earth raw materials, which are planned to be supplied from the Tanbreez deposit in Greenland.
As Romanian Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan told Antena 3, the authorities intend to determine the financial model of the project and the list of metals to be processed by mid-April, after which the government should approve the relevant memorandum.
Back in December 2025, Critical Metals announced plans to form a joint venture with Romania’s FPCU to build a facility to process rare earth minerals from the Tanbreez project, with the company intending to supply Romania with 50% of the concentrate for the entire life of the mine. The company emphasized that the project is designed to reduce Europe’s dependence on Chinese processing capacity.
Nova Poshta, the leader in express delivery in Ukraine and part of the NOVA group, has entered into a partnership with UPS Store, the leader in the logistics market, to deliver documents or parcels weighing up to 30 kg from the US to Ukraine through more than 6,000 partner locations, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We have taken the next step in developing our presence in the US market by launching deliveries to Ukraine in partnership with UPS,” said Vyacheslav Klimov, co-owner of the NOVA group of companies (Nova Poshta), in a press release.
He noted that Nova Poshta plans to speed up delivery times from the current 7+ days to 5+ days, expand the list of services to include scaled address delivery, and open franchise branches in major cities across the country.
It is noted that the cost of delivery from the US to Ukraine is expected to be $25 for documents and parcels up to 1 kg, $30 for parcels up to 2 kg, $50 for parcels up to 5 kg, $80 for parcels up to 10 kg, $150 for parcels up to 20 kg, and $200 for parcels up to 30 kg.
Insurance is included in the cost for parcels up to $150, while for shipments over $150, a minimum commission of 0.5% is provided. In case of force majeure, the company will refund the sender the estimated value of the shipment in full, according to the statement.
In 2025, Nova Poshta increased its revenue by 21% compared to 2024. The number of parcels and cargo delivered in 2025 increased by 7.4% – from 486 million to 522 million, including international shipments – by 52.6%, from 19 million to 29 million.
The main activity of Nova Poshta is the express delivery of documents, parcels, and palletized large-sized cargo. Its ultimate beneficial owners are Volodymyr Poperechnyuk and Vyacheslav Klimov.
As of early January 2026, the company’s network had more than 50,000 service points, including 15,900 branches and 34,200 post offices.
NOVA, NOVA POSHTA, UPS, UPS Store, USA
In the US and the UK, the proportion of respondents who consider the outbreak of a new world war by 2031 to be “likely” or “very likely” has increased, according to a poll published by Politico and conducted by the research company Public First.
According to the poll, 43% of respondents in the UK believe this, compared to 30% in March 2025, and 46% in the US, compared to 38% a year earlier.
The survey was conducted on February 6-9, 2026, in the US, Canada, the UK, France, and Germany; approximately 2,000 adult respondents were surveyed in each country (10,289 in total), with a stated margin of error of approximately ±2% per country.
The article also notes that more than 40% of respondents in Western countries generally consider the scenario of a “third world war” in the next five years to be more likely, and support for increased defense spending declines significantly when it comes to compromises such as tax increases, increased public debt, or cuts to other budget items.
The volume of tractor imports to Ukraine in January 2026 amounted to $33.3 million, which is 24.2% less than in the same month of 2025 ($43.9 million), according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published statistics, tractor imports decreased by 2.5 times compared to December last year.
Last month, tractors were imported mainly from China (31.2% of total imports of this equipment, or $10.4 million), the United States (13.3%, or $4.4 million), and Germany (11.8%, or $3.9 million), while last year China was also the leader ($9.34 million), Germany was second ($5.5 million), and the United States was third ($3.7 million).
According to statistics from the State Customs Service, last month $0.4 million worth of tractors were exported, mainly to Belgium (31.8%), while last year exports amounted to $0.56 million, with most supplies going to Zambia (41.4%).
As reported, the volume of tractor imports to Ukraine in 2025 reached $845.7 million, exceeding the 2024 figure by 7.9%. The main suppliers were the United States ($179.7 million), Germany ($145 million), and China ($142.8 million). Exports amounted to $6.6 million, compared to $5.4 million in 2024, and were mainly to Romania, Belgium, and Germany.
