Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky seeks Patriots in return for sending drone experts to Middle East
Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukrainian experts are heading to the Middle East to provide expertise on combatting Iranian drone attacks.
Kyiv is hoping to leverage its experience with drone warfare in exchange for new supplies of US air defence missiles, amid concerns that the Middle East conflict could stretch global supplies.
Asked how Kyiv intended to help the United States and its Gulf allies counter drone attacks, Zelensky said it was “too early to say anything else at this stage”, adding that experts would arrive on site in the coming week and “assess the situation and help”.
Ukraine has highlighted its expertise in drone warfare since the outbreak of the joint US and Israel attack on Iran, and has expressed interest in supplying interceptor drones to counter Iranian “Shahed” UAVs in exchange for Patriot air defence systems.
Ukraine was already facing a shortage of costly PAC-3 interceptor missiles supplied by the United States, and officials fear a prolonged conflict with Iran could further disrupt supplies.
