BY Rosemary
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States and several Middle Eastern countries have approached Kyiv for assistance in defending against Iranian-made Shahed drones, reflecting growing international interest in Ukraine’s battlefield-tested expertise in countering the unmanned aircraft.
Speaking late Wednesday, Zelenskyy revealed that multiple countries in the Middle East have sought Ukraine’s advice and cooperation as they confront an increasing threat from Iranian drones, which have become a central weapon in regional conflicts. According to the Ukrainian leader, discussions have taken place with leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about potential collaboration on air defense strategies.
The requests come after years in which Ukraine has faced relentless drone attacks from Russia following Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Over the course of the war, Russian forces have launched tens of thousands of Iranian-designed Shahed drones against Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and military positions. The attacks have frequently involved large swarms intended to overwhelm traditional air defense systems.
One of the most intense barrages occurred recently when Russia launched more than 800 drones and decoys in a single overnight assault, marking the largest such attack since the war began. The scale of those operations forced Ukraine to rapidly innovate new methods of defense, leading to the development of relatively inexpensive counter-drone technologies that have since attracted global attention.
Zelenskyy indicated that Ukraine is willing to assist partners confronting similar threats, but he stressed that any support would be carefully balanced to ensure it does not weaken Ukraine’s own defensive capabilities while it continues to fight Russian forces.
“We help to defend from war those who help Ukraine bring a just end to the war,” Zelenskyy said, emphasizing that Kyiv’s cooperation would be tied to broader diplomatic and security considerations.
Later Thursday, Zelenskyy said that the United States had formally requested Ukrainian support to help counter Iranian drone threats in the Middle East. In response, he said he authorized the provision of equipment along with Ukrainian specialists who have firsthand experience dealing with the aircraft. The president did not provide detailed information about what systems or technologies might be shared.
“Ukraine helps partners who help our security and the protection of our people’s lives,” he wrote in a message posted on social media.
Iranian Shahed drones have become a major concern for governments across the Middle East in recent days. Tehran has used the same type of drones in retaliatory strikes following joint U.S. and Israeli military operations targeting Iranian facilities and military infrastructure. The expanding use of the drones has heightened fears of a wider regional conflict and has prompted governments to search for effective countermeasures.
Ukraine’s experience has proven particularly valuable because its forces have been forced to defend against the weapons on a near-daily basis. Over the past several years, Ukrainian engineers and defense companies have developed a range of low-cost solutions designed specifically to intercept and destroy Shahed drones before they reach their targets.
Among the most notable innovations are interceptor drones built to hunt and neutralize incoming unmanned aircraft. These systems can cost as little as $1,000, a fraction of the price of traditional air defense missiles. The relatively low cost has allowed Ukraine to deploy them in large numbers, significantly improving its ability to defend cities and critical infrastructure from drone attacks.
The success of these systems has attracted the attention of military planners around the world, particularly as conflicts increasingly involve inexpensive unmanned aircraft capable of bypassing traditional defenses.
European governments have also been forced to reassess their air defense strategies as the use of drones has expanded. Last September, Poland scrambled several high-value military assets — including F-35 and F-16 fighter jets as well as Black Hawk helicopters — after cheap drones violated its airspace. The incident highlighted the challenge of responding to relatively inexpensive aerial threats with extremely costly equipment.
Ukraine’s growing drone industry has rapidly expanded to meet wartime demand, creating manufacturing capacity that in some cases exceeds the country’s immediate needs. Earlier this year, Zelenskyy announced plans for Ukraine to begin exporting some of its drone-defense technologies to friendly nations.
The possibility of broader cooperation was also discussed among European and Middle Eastern officials. Kaja Kallas said ahead of a meeting between European Union and Gulf foreign ministers that Ukraine’s experience combating Iranian drones could play an important role in helping other countries develop effective defenses.
While Ukraine’s technological expertise is gaining international interest, the growing conflict in the Middle East has also begun to affect Kyiv’s own diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war with Russia.
Zelenskyy said that the latest escalation involving Iran has diverted global attention away from the war in Ukraine, which remains the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II. The shifting focus has also delayed a new round of U.S.-mediated negotiations between Ukraine and Russia that had been expected to take place this week.
The talks were initially planned as part of an ongoing diplomatic effort led by Washington to explore possible pathways toward ending the war. However, Zelenskyy said the changing security environment has made it difficult to move forward with the discussions.
“Right now, because of the situation around Iran, there are not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting,” he said, referring to negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States. “But as soon as the security situation and the overall political context allow us to resume that diplomatic work, it will be done.”
Despite the delays in negotiations, one area of cooperation between the two sides has continued. Zelenskyy confirmed Thursday that 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been returned from Russia as part of an exchange mediated with the assistance of the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also confirmed that it received 200 Russian prisoners in return and expressed appreciation for the role played by Washington and Abu Dhabi in facilitating the swap.
Prisoner exchanges have been among the few consistent outcomes of diplomatic contacts between the two countries since the war began. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that a larger exchange was underway and that a total of 500 prisoners from each side were expected to be released between Thursday and Friday.
Some Ukrainian officials believe the Kremlin is deliberately prolonging negotiations while continuing military operations on the battlefield. Vladimir Putin has been accused by Kyiv of using the talks to buy time and avoid additional international sanctions while Russian forces attempt to consolidate gains.
Oleksandr Merezhko argued that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are closely linked through the strategic cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.
“In reality, Russia and Iran are close allies that act in concert — Iran supplies weapons and Russia helps Iran develop its defense industry,” Merezhko said, describing the two conflicts as interconnected struggles with broader global implications.
On the battlefield in Ukraine, fighting continues along a front line stretching roughly 1,250 kilometers. Recent assessments suggest Ukrainian forces have managed to push Russian troops back in several localized areas in recent weeks.
According to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian counterattacks during the last two weeks of February recaptured more territory than was lost during the same period. The organization estimated that Ukrainian forces have regained approximately 257 square kilometers of territory since the beginning of the year.
Although those gains remain limited compared with the overall scale of the war, they underscore the continued intensity of the conflict — even as international attention increasingly shifts toward new crises elsewhere in the world.
Original article
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