Zelenskyy courts Saudi support as U.S. reportedly weighs redirecting Ukraine aid to Middle East
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Munich, Germany, on February 15, 2025.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, seeking support for Kiev as the United States reportedly considers shifting military resources to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran.
Zelenskyy He met with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is in Jeddah to discuss increasing military tensions in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian leader says he is on hold “important meetings” In Kiev during this trip presented air defense expertise and drone technology To the countries in the region shaken by Iranian attacks.
More than 200 Ukrainian experts have been sent to advise Middle Eastern countries on how to prevent attacks that damage energy infrastructure in the region.
Zelenskyy hopes to win support from Gulf states in Kiev’s war against Russia, which is in its fifth year and Western military aid faces new uncertainty.
Iran’s Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ drone has become a fixture of modern warfare, with Moscow utilizing the technology in its years-long occupation of Ukraine. Ukraine has had some success shooting down drones with fighter artillery fire and has recently pioneered the development of cheaper, mass-produced interceptors.
In an earlier speech to the British parliament on March 17, Zelenskyy attempted to draw parallels between the Iran War and Kiev’s war with Russia.
“If together with our partners in the Middle East we [military] “With a system like Ukraine’s, they will be able to track and analyze attacks from Iran or the Houthis in real time, continue to improve their defenses, and provide real security to people, critical infrastructure and trade routes,” he said.
Zelenskyy’s trip comes as the Pentagon is weighing the redirection of equipment and weapons destined for Ukraine to the Middle East. According to Washington PostThe conflict with Iran is straining existing American ammunition stocks.
There may be a specific operation [Trump] We have it in mind, but unless you’re going to bring in very, very light units, it’s going to take a very long time to get these units into the field.
Mark Kimmitt
Retired US general and former diplomat
The Trump administration was also considering sending 10,000 more troops to the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal reported On Friday, a buildup of nearly 5,000 Marines and thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division in the area was added.
The growing US military presence in the Middle East has raised concerns about a ground attack on Iran, even as both sides cling to conflicting signals about possible peace talks. While Trump insisted on Thursday that talks were going well, Tehran denied any direct talks with the US.
“Any announcements regarding troop deployments will come from the War Department. As we have said, President Trump always has all military options available,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in an emailed statement to CNBC. he said.
While Ukraine faces renewed Russian attacks due to the stalled US-backed peace talks, it is also struggling to obtain new commitments from NATO allies to replenish its stock of American-made air defense missiles capable of countering high-speed Russian ballistic missiles.
Critical €90 billion (US$104 billion) European Union Loan package for Ukraine Then it started to be questioned Hungary vetoed financial aid.
Are you organizing a ground operation?
Military experts said the scale of the deployment of additional troops to the region appeared consistent with plans for discrete, time-limited operations rather than a sustained ground offensive.
Former Deputy Secretary of State Mark Kimmitt said Friday that the number of American troops mobilized to the region so far indicates targeted missions rather than a broader ground war.
“It could be a special operation” [Trump] “It’s in my mind, but unless you bring in very, very light units, it’s going to be a very long time before we can field those units,” the retired Brigadier General told CNBC.Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.
He said a direct ground attack on Tehran would require at least two to three divisions; This is a scale of power that neither current planning nor the American public can tolerate.
The more plausible scenario, he suggested, would target high-risk missions: stationing paratroopers on Kharg Island, the hub of the vast majority of Iran’s crude oil exports, or landing a Marine force along the coast to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz.
“There are a number of different small-scale tactical operations that could be conducted, but nothing of strategic importance or of the operational scale that would suggest a land invasion,” Kimmitt said.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis estimated Thursday that only 4,000 to 5,000 “trigger pullers,” or ground troops, were deployed in the area.
“I’ve seen no evidence that any force of the size that you might need to go has been considered, much less warned, prepared, equipped or trained. … That would take months to do,” Davis, a senior researcher and military expert at Defense Priorities, told CNBC on Thursday.
— CNBC’s Dylan Butts and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
