Kyiv offers the United States and its allies in the Persian Gulf assistance in intercepting Iranian attack drones. The Ukrainian military has significant experience in combating such drones, since the aggressor country Russia is actively using Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine.
However, analysts doubt that such assistance will significantly change the US position in peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
“Perhaps Ukraine's ability to contribute to shooting down Iranian drones in the Persian Gulf will resonate with Trump. It will show them that Ukraine does have more cards to play with Russia. But I don't think Trump's approach will fundamentally change,” said John Hardy, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
In his opinion, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will likely continue to push for a deal that includes territorial concessions from Ukraine.
That sentiment was echoed by UC San Diego political science professor Branislav Slanchev, who said it would be difficult to get either side to abandon their positions.
Context
After the US and Israel on February 28 launched a military operation against Iran, the Islamic state responded with strikes with ballistic missiles and Shahed drones, including against countries in the Middle East where there are American military facilities.
After this, Zelensky said that he could send the best Ukrainian specialists to the Middle East if the leaders of the region convince the illegitimate president of the aggressor country, Vladimir Putin, to agree to a month-long truce in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In an interview with Rai Italia published on March 5, the president also informed that Ukraine is receiving requests from partners in the Middle East, as well as Europe and the United States, to provide expertise in the fight against Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones used against civilian targets. At the same time, Zelensky recalled that the war continues in Ukraine itself and the country has a shortage of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot air defense system.
As of March 9 there is 11 requests from Iran’s neighboring countries, European states and the United States for security support from Ukraine in countering Shahed and other similar challenges, Zelensky reported.
