Ukraine stands ready to offer “immediate action” when it comes to helping the United States with its cutting-edge drone expertise, which it has sharpened during its conflict with Russia.
The European country has benefited from U.S. support during its war, although it has often been left hanging in the wind, depending on the whims of both the Biden and Trump administrations. The most obvious example was the viral Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and President Volodymyr Zelensky, which descended into a shouting match and accusations that Ukraine hadn’t been grateful for American help.
Now, however, the U.S. needs Ukraine’s help in its war with Iran — and Zelensky is ready to deliver.
“There is clear interest in Ukraine’s experience in protecting lives, relevant interceptors, electronic warfare systems, and training. Ukraine is ready to respond positively to requests from those who help us protect the lives of Ukrainians and the independence of Ukraine,” he said on Monday.
Ukraine dispatched a team of drone experts and interceptor drones to protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, Zelensky told the New York Times.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna told reporters on Monday at the embassy in Washington, D.C.: “It was really important for Ukraine to show that what we can offer is not a political position or concern or condolences. What we can offer is the immediate action and immediate effect.”
The fraught moment comes after an Iranian drone attack killed seven American service members in Kuwait at the Port of Shuaiba, while others were injured. It represents the largest fatality count of any Iranian attack since the U.S. and Israel launched the opening strikes in the war on Feb. 28.
No one knows more than the Ukrainians about how to defend against these types of attacks, and they now have the ability to help the Americans, but Zelensky also has to balance his country’s own needs as the Trump administration-led negotiations to end the war have stalled amid the Middle East conflict.
“At the moment, the partners’ priority and all attention are focused on the situation around Iran, and because of this the meeting that had been planned for this week is being postponed at the proposal of the American side,” Zelensky added.
Meanwhile, Russia has supplied the Iranians with intelligence about the location of American troops in the region for targeting. The Trump administration has downplayed the development. Last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating them.”
The U.S.’s interest in using Ukraine’s first-hand expertise with drone technology predates the conflict in the region. Trump and Zelensky have discussed a drone technology deal since the summer, though it’s unclear how much tangible progress has been made, if any.
Last August, Zelensky reportedly offered to sell the U.S. Ukraine’s battle-tested counter-UAV technology, but the administration did not express an interest until last week, according to Axios.
“There’s been a lot of different developments after this announcement. This did not involve a large intergovernmental memorandum or anything else, but we had a couple of delegations engaged with Ukrainian armed forces, Ukrainian cross-sectoral delegations worked in the Pentagon, and it has happened vice versa,” Stefanishyna added.
Several Ukrainian defense businesses, not political leaders, are currently in the U.S. traveling to different cities to court American businesses, investors, and policymakers. They held a press conference with the ambassador at the embassy on Monday.
US WAR IN IRAN IS ‘FULL STEAM AHEAD’ WITH CONTINUED BOMBINGS
The Pentagon established a specific task force last year to lead the department and federal government’s counter-drone technology and security called Joint Interagency Task Force 401. The head of the task force, Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, visited Ukraine the week before the war in the Middle East broke out.
“I went to understand the technology that they’re using to protect their sites and their people from the threat of unmanned systems,” Ross told a small group of reporters last week. “And I did it to understand the TTPs — tactics, techniques and procedures — that they’re employing very effectively to protect their forces.”
