US, Middle East countries seek Kyiv’s drone expertise as Russia-Ukraine talks put on ice

KYIV, Ukraine — The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shaheed drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Zelensky said late on Wednesday that various countries, including the United States, had approached Ukraine for help defending against Iranian drones. He said that he has spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation in recent days.

Russia has fired tens of thousands of shaheds in Ukraine since invading its neighbor just four years ago. Iran has responded to joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets with similar drones.

According to the Ukrainian leader, Ukrainian assistance in combating Iranian drones will only be provided if it does not undermine Ukraine’s own defenses and adds leverage to Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts to deter Russian aggression.

“Ukraine, we will help to save those who help us from war, to end the war with Russia,” Zelensky said.

The Iran war, now in its sixth day, has drawn international attention from Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and forced the postponement of a new round of US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine planned for this week, Zelensky said.

Western governments and analysts say the Russia-Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, but year-long US-led peace efforts show no sign of ending the fighting anytime soon.

“Due to the situation around Iran, there are still no necessary signals for a tripartite meeting,” Zelensky said. “But as soon as the security situation and the overall political situation allow us to resume that tripartite diplomatic work, that will be done.”

Oleksandr Merezko, head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to drag out the talks so he could escape further US sanctions with a Russian offensive.

He urged the US administration to see the Russia-Ukraine war and the war in the Middle East as linked.

“In reality, Russia and Iran are close allies — Iran supplies weapons and Russia helps Iran develop its defense industry. These are interrelated conflicts,” Merezko told The Associated Press.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukraine’s army has recently pushed back Russian forces at some points along its roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line.

A Washington-based think tank said this week that local Ukrainian counter-offensives had liberated more territory than Ukrainian forces lost in the last two weeks of February, estimating about 257 square kilometers (100 square miles) of land recovered since January 1.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine