Ukraine has deployed military units to protect the civilians and infrastructure of five Middle Eastern countries against potential Iranian drone attacks amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Rustem Umerov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, announced the deployment Friday and noted he had been visiting the five countries — the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan — over the past week.
“Ukrainian military specialists are operating in each of these countries under the coordination of the National Security and Defense Council,” Umerov said Friday in a post on social platform X.
The announcement is the most recent indication that Ukraine is seeking to leverage the Iran war to strengthen ties with the U.S. and flex its military innovations as peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia fall to the wayside.
“Ukraine stands in defense of life and sovereignty alongside those who support us in preserving our independence,” Umerov wrote on X. “We seek to further strengthen security partnerships with our allies.”
President Trump told MS NOW’s Stephanie Ruhle in a phone call Friday that he did not want Ukraine’s help fighting Iran, affirming previous comments that the U.S. does not want Ukraine’s counter-drone experts.
He reportedly told Ruhle that Russian President Vladimir Putin is easier to deal with than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and he trusts him more than any of the U.S.’s European allies.
“I don’t need to help,” Trump said to Ruhle. “He’s doing that for political reasons.”
“No, we don’t need [Ukraine’s] help in drone defense,” Trump also said in an interview with Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that aired March 13. “We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually.”
Zelensky told The New York Times earlier this month that Ukraine sent interceptor drones and experts to help protect U.S. bases in the Middle East.
Zelensky said in a conversation with journalists Friday, which he posted on X, that Ukraine is open and waiting to enter a drone defense deal with the U.S. and plans to discuss the issue in a meeting.
“I am very interested in signing this agreement with our close partner – the United States of America,” Zelensky wrote Friday on X. “So when President Trump is ready, I will definitely be ready. Our negotiating team will discuss this issue at the meeting in the United States.”
