The war in the Middle East is pulling in Ukraine. The US requested Kyiv’s help combatting Iran’s Shahed drones, which Russia has used extensively against Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Thursday that there could be a trade: “We would like to fill our deficit of Patriot missiles and supply a certain number of interceptors,” he said, per Bloomberg, later writing that Ukraine would offer the US “instructions” and “Ukrainian specialists” who could counter the drones.
Meanwhile, the Iran war is burning through the very munitions that Ukraine needs to defend itself.
“While it might in the end weaken Russia,” Kajsa Ollongren, EU special representative for human rights, told Semafor, “if this would be a longer war, in terms of [Ukraine’s] capabilities, it could present a problem.”
The conflict continues to widen; the US suspended operations at its embassy in Kuwait, and Israel struck Beirut.