Ukraine Will Provide Drone Protection Support In Middle East At US Request, Zelensky Says

The United States and its Middle Eastern allies are turning to Ukraine for guidance on how to counter Iran’s Shahed drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.

According to Zelensky, several countries – including the US – have recently asked Kyiv for assistance in defending against the Iranian-made drones. He added that, in the past few days, he has spoken with leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait about potential cooperation.

Tehran has fired hundreds of drones at US targets in neighbouring countries after ​the ‌US and Israel began a massive campaign of air strikes ⁠against Iran on Saturday.

During its war with Russia, Ukraine has developed highly effective means of downing the ‌Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drone, which Moscow has been using for much ⁠of the four-year war.

“We received a request from the United States for specific support in protection against ‘Shaheds’ in the Middle East region,” Zelenskiy wrote ​in English on the X social media platform.

“I gave instructions ‌to provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialists who can guarantee the required security.”

The US had requested assistance in protecting its bases and soldiers ‌in certain countries in the region, according to a source familiar with the matter, who said Zelensky ​had instructed his military to do so.

Ukrainians would start work “in the next few days”, the source said.

In a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday, US President Donald ​Trump said that he would take assistance from any country when asked ​about Zelensky’s offer of support to help defend against ​Iranian drones.

Zelensky expressed concern earlier this week that the war in Iran – if it proves long and intense – ​could diminish weapons supplies to Ukraine from its Western allies, in particular the air defence systems it needs to protect against Russian missiles.

In recent months, Ukraine has already experienced shortages of the US-made Patriot air defence systems, which are the only effective weapon in ⁠its arsenal for downing Russia’s ballistic missiles.

On Tuesday, Zelensky said Ukraine would be open to exchanging ⁠interceptor drones for ​air defence missiles from the Middle East allies, which have their own stocks of Patriots.

(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)