Ukraine to help US and its allies counter Iranian drones in Middle East, says Zelenskyy | Ukraine
The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise to counter Iran’s Shahed drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help defending against Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday. He said that he has recently met with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.
Ukraine’s president said Ukraine’s assistance against Iranian drones will be provided only if Ukraine does not weaken its own defenses and provides an advantage to Kiev’s diplomatic efforts to stop the Russian invasion.
“We are helping Ukraine protect from war those who helped us bring a just end to the war with Russia,” Zelenskyy said. Later on Thursday, Zelenskyy said he had requested US defensive support against drones in the Middle East and ordered the equipment to be provided with Ukrainian experts, without providing further details.
“Ukraine helps partners who help ensure our security and protect the lives of our people,” he added in his social media post.
Trump said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday: “You know, I will absolutely accept any assistance from any country.”
Russia has sent tens of thousands of Witnesses to Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor nearly four years ago and at one point carried out its largest nighttime bombardment, firing a swarm of more than 800 drones and decoys.
Iran responded to joint US-Israeli attacks by launching the same type of unmanned aerial vehicles against countries in the Middle East.
Ukraine has pioneered the development of discounted drone destruction equipment costing as little as $1,000, rewriting the air defense rulebook and prompting other countries to take notice.
Ukrainian manufacturers have developed low-cost interceptor drones specifically designed to hunt and destroy Shahedes, and the rapidly expanding drone industry is producing excess capacity.
In September last year, European countries received a wake-up call about the changing nature of air defense when Poland scrambled multimillion-dollar military assets, including F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters, in response to airspace violations by cheap drones.
Zelenskyy announced earlier this year that Ukraine would begin exporting battle-tested systems.
Before chairing a meeting of EU and Gulf foreign ministers on Thursday, the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the talks would focus on how Ukraine’s experience could help countries counter Iranian drones.
Zelenskyy said the Iran war, now in its sixth day, had diverted international attention from Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and caused the postponement of a new round of US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled for this week.
“Currently, due to the situation in Iran, there are no necessary signals for a trilateral meeting yet,” Zelenskyy said. “But this will be done as soon as the security situation and the general political context allow us to continue trilateral diplomatic work.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to extend negotiations so that Russia can continue its occupation while evading US sanctions.
He called on the US administration to look at the Russia-Ukraine war in connection with the war in the Middle East.
“In reality, Russia and Iran are close allies acting together; Iran provides weapons and Russia helps Iran develop its defense industry. These are interconnected conflicts,” Merezhko told The Associated Press.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Ukrainian military has recently pushed back Russian forces at some points along about 1,250 km (750 miles) of front line.
The Washington-based think tank said this week that localized Ukrainian counteroffensives had liberated more territory than Ukrainian forces lost in the last two weeks of February, estimating the area liberated at about 257 square kilometers (100 square miles) since Jan. 1.
