Ukraine sees opportunity in America’s drone problem in Iran

Ukraine is seeking to leverage the raging U.S.-Israeli war against Iran to bolster its ties with the Trump administration and showcase its military innovations as the Russia-Ukraine peace talks are placed on America’s back burner.

The latest Middle East conflict is offering Kyiv a chance to utilize its technology expertise, offering the U.S. and its Gulf allies experts to help shoot down incoming Iranian drones — the same kamikaze devices that Russia has increasingly relied on in its assault on Ukraine.

Eric Ciaramella, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is putting his foot forward for two reasons: to show the value of its defense partnership with Washington and to showcase its advanced anti-drone technology in hopes of striking a deal with the nations in the region.

“Ukraine needs all the financing it can get at this moment, and then Ukraine can send some Shahed interceptors. That seems like a pretty good deal for everyone. So it’s not only about the United States,” he said in an interview with The Hill on Tuesday. “It really is to show like this capability is relevant, and other countries should be thinking about turning to Ukraine for solutions in the future.”

Experts were skeptical Kyiv’s efforts in the Middle East will change President Trump’s thinking about the peace talks.

“Maybe Ukraine’s ability to contribute to counter Shahed defense in the Gulf will resonate with Trump. Kind of show them that Ukraine does indeed have more ‘cards’ for leverage with Russia,” said John Hardie, the deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). “But it doesn’t seem to me like [Trump’s] approach will fundamentally change,”

Instead, Hardie said in an interview with The Hill that U.S. top negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will “probably still keep pushing for a deal that revolves around Ukraine, kind of making territorial concessions, and they see that as the key to unlocking a peace agreement.”

Branislav Slantchev, a political science professor at the University of California San Diego, echoed Hardie’s assessment, arguing that it is hard to whisk away either party from their positions on ending the largest land conflict in Europe since World War 2.

“Bottom line is, you cannot get into the good graces of anybody here in the sense that everybody’s pretty much set in what they want to achieve and how, and it’s very difficult to move people away from this,” Slantchev said in an interview. “And so I think bottom line is Trump is operating under whatever constraints the Congress of the Europeans put on him.”

Since Russia’s invasion kicked off in 2022, Ukrainian forces have dealt with incoming one-way Shahed drones, which the Kremlin has purchased, repurposed and renamed Geran drones, pounding Ukrainian cities and military sites. To counter the incoming strikes, Ukraine developed a low-cost interceptor drone, along with other air defenses and sensors, turning itself into the premier expert in combating Shaheds.

Last Thursday, the U.S. government formally asked Ukraine for counter-drone help, Zelensky said in a recent interview with The New York Times.

The Ukrainian president confirmed on Tuesday that Ukrainian military experts and top defense official Rustem Umerov are on their way to the Gulf region to assist U.S. allies in shooting down Iranian drones, which have been connected to the deaths of U.S. service members and sapped expensive U.S. and Gulf air defenses being used to strike them down.

Additionally, Zelensky’s communications adviser told reporters that Ukraine sent air defense specialists to a U.S. military base in Jordan. The U.S. Central Command declined to comment.

Ukraine’s offer to assist in knocking down Tehran’s drones came amid reports that Russia, an ally of Iran, is providing Iran with intelligence, including locations of U.S. aircraft and warships.

Russian leaders denied during a phone call with Trump on Monday that they are sharing intelligence with Iran amid the war, Witkoff said on Tuesday during his appearance on CNBC.

“So, you know, we can take them at their word,” Witkoff said on CNBC’s “Money Movers.” Let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff have sent a message to Russia that if “that was taking place, it’s not something they would be happy with and they hope that it is not taking place.”

Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, said Russia was making a “mistake” in getting actively involved on Iran’s side.

“Putin is lucky that Trump has a soft spot in his heart for the Russian dictator, and why would you want to risk that despite the fact that to Putin this undoubtedly seems like great payback for the US helping Ukraine with intelligence over the years,” O’Hanlon told The Hill.

Hardie, of FDD, said the issue of the Kremlin’s intelligence sharing with Iran will hopefully resonate with Trump and lead him to adopt a “more muscular approach to putting economic and military pressure” on Russia to “negotiate on more reasonable terms.”

“But we’ll see, I think, so far, despite the fact that the Russians have really been obstinate, the Trump administration has not really pressured the Russians to the extent we’d like to see,” he told The Hill.

Ciaramella at the Carnegie Endowment said the Iran war has actually given Russia more leverage and momentum because of the oil price hikes.

Putin “wasn’t feeling much pressure before, and now he’s feeling even less pressure to come to the table,” he said.

Slantchev, who studies war negotiation at UC San Diego, was skeptical that Ukraine’s leadership could do much to foster support from the Trump administration.

“He’s caught between a rock and a hard place,” he said of Zelensky. “He needs to indicate to the Russians, which is that they cannot get what they want — is exactly the thing that is upsetting to Trump.”

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