Zelenskyy warns US-Iran war could divert critical aid from Ukraine
President Zelenskyy has warned that a prolonged US-Israeli war with Iran is threatening the supply of vital Patriot missiles and boosting Russia’s economy through surging oil prices.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that an extended conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran risks diverting Washington’s attention away from Ukraine, potentially leaving Kyiv with a dangerous shortage of essential Patriot air defence systems.
Ukraine desperately needs more US-made Patriot air defence systems to help it counter Russia’s daily barrages, Zelenskyy said in an interview late on Saturday in Istanbul.
Russia’s relentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago has killed thousands of civilians. It has also targeted Ukraine's energy supply to disrupt industrial production of Ukraine’s newly developed drones and missiles, while also denying civilians heat and running water in winter.
“We have to recognise that we are not the priority for today,” Zelenskyy said. “That’s why I am afraid a long (Iran) war will give us less support.”
A loss of focus on Ukraine
The latest US-brokered talks between envoys from Moscow and Kyiv ended in February with no sign of a breakthrough. Zelenskyy, who has accused Russia of “trying to drag out negotiations” while it presses on with its invasion, said Ukraine remains in contact with US negotiators about a potential deal to end the war and has continued to press for stronger security guarantees.
But, he said, even those discussions reflect a broader loss of focus from Ukraine.
His most immediate concern, Zelenskyy said, are the Patriots — essential for intercepting Russian ballistic missiles — as Ukraine still lacks an effective alternative.
These US systems were never delivered in sufficient quantities to begin with, Zelenskyy said, and if the Iran war doesn't end soon, "the package — which is not very big for us — I think will be smaller and smaller day by day.”
“That’s why, of course, we are afraid," he said.
Interlinked wars
Zelenskyy had been counting on European partners to help make the Patriot purchases despite tight supply and limited US production capacity.
But the Iran war, now in its sixth week, has sent shock waves through the global economy and pulled in much of the wider Middle East region, further straining these already limited resources, diverting stockpiles and leaving Ukrainian cities more exposed to ballistic strikes.
For Kyiv, a key objective is to weaken Moscow’s economy and make the war prohibitively costly. Surging oil prices driven by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz are undermining that strategy by boosting the Kremlin’s oil revenues and strengthening Moscow’s capacity to sustain its war effort.
In his interview, Zelenskyy said Russia draws economic benefits from the Mideast war, citing the limited easing of American sanctions on Russian oil.
“Russia gets additional money because of this, so yes, they have benefits," he said.
A renewed diplomatic push
To keep Ukraine on the international agenda, Zelenskyy has offered to share Ukraine's hard-earned battlefield expertise with the United States and allies to develop effective countermeasures against Iranian attacks.
Ukraine has met Russia’s evolving use of Iranian-made Shahed drones with growing sophistication, technological ingenuity and low cost.
Moscow significantly modified the original Shahed-136, rebranded as the Geran-2, enhancing its ability to evade air defences and be mass-produced. Ukraine responded with quick innovation of its own, including low-cost interceptor drones designed to track and destroy incoming drones.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to share with Gulf Arab countries targeted by Iran its experience and technology, including interceptor drones and sea drones, which Ukraine produces — more than are used up — with funding from Americans and its European partners.
In return, these countries could help Ukraine "with anti-ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy said.
In late March, as the Iran war escalated, Zelenskyy visited Gulf Arab states to promote Ukraine’s singular experience in countering Iranian-made Shahed drones, leading to new defence cooperation agreements.
Zelenskyy has also positioned Ukraine as a potential partner in safeguarding global trade routes, offering assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz by sharing Ukraine’s experiences securing maritime corridors in the Black Sea.
Zelenskyy was in Istanbul for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a day after the Turkish leader spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy said they discussed peace talks and a possible meeting of leaders in Istanbul. He also said there could be new defence deals signed between the two countries soon.
Russia steps up its spring offensive
Each year as the weather improves, Russia moves its grinding war of attrition up a notch. However, it has been unable to capture Ukrainian cities and has made only incremental gains across rural areas. Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.
On the roughly 1,250-kilometre front line stretching across eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, short-handed Ukrainian defenders are getting ready for a new offensive by Russia’s larger army.
The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian troops have in recent days made simultaneous attempts to break through defence lines in several strategic areas.
One thing Zelenskyy says he has insisted on and will continue to do so — a territorial compromise and giving up land will not be on Ukraine's agenda.
Russia's military campaign in Ukraine stalls
for first time in more than two years
Russia’s advance in Ukraine stalled in March, with no territorial gains for the first time in over two years, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Ukrainian forces recaptured small areas, signalling a slowdown in Moscow’s momentum after months of progress, raising new questions about the war’s next phase.
Issued on: 02/04/2026
By: FRANCE 24
Russia's army recorded no territorial gains on the front line in Ukraine in March for the first time in two and half years, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed.
Ukrainian forces managed to recapture 9 square kilometres in March as Moscow's forces slowed down across the entire front line, according to the analysis. This figure excludes infiltration operations conducted by Russian forces beyond the front line, as well as advances claimed by the Russian side but neither confirmed nor denied by the ISW.
02:49
The ISW worked with the Critical Threats Project (part of the American Enterprise Institute, or AEI), another US think-tank specialising in conflict. The Russian army has been slowing its advance since late 2025 due to counter-offensives in the southeast of the country, with 319 square kilometres of gains in January and 123 square kilometres in February, the smallest advances since April 2024.
The ISW attributed the slowdown of the Russian army in recent months to Ukrainian counter-offensives, but also to "Russia's ban on using Starlink terminals in Ukraine" and "the Kremlin's efforts to restrict access to Telegram".
The messaging app, very popular among Russians including those fighting on the front line, has been barely usable in recent months due to blocks imposed by the authorities.
As in February, Russia has lost ground on the southern section of the front line, between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where it occupied more than 400 square kilometres at the end of January. This area shrank to 200 square kilometres in February and to 144 square kilometres in March. The situation was, however, unfavourable for Kyiv further north in the Donetsk region, towards the two major regional cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
In 2025, the Russian army made more progress in Ukraine than in the preceding 24 months. But in the first three months of 2026, Russian territorial gains were half those of the same period in 2025.
Four years after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow occupies just over 19 percent of the country, the majority of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.
Approximately seven percent, including Crimea and areas in the Donbas region, was already under Russian or pro-Russian separatist control before the invasion.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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