'We are not the priority for today': Zelenskyy fears Iran war will weaken US backing of Ukraine
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Associated Press that a prolonged war of the US and Israel against Iran could further weaken American support for Kyiv.
According to the president, Ukraine urgently needs additional American Patriot systems to counter daily Russian strikes. He stressed that Kyiv still has no effective alternative to these systems for intercepting ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that amid the new war in the Middle East, Ukraine is no longer at the center of international attention. That is why, he said, Kyiv fears that a prolonged conflict around Iran will lead to a further reduction in US support.
“We have to recognize that we are not the priority for today,” the Ukrainian leader stressed. “That’s why I am afraid a long (Iran - ed.) war will give us less support.”
The president noted that Patriot systems and missiles for them had been supplied to Ukraine in insufficient quantities from the very beginning. If hostilities against Iran do not end quickly, even the current aid package, which he described as not very large, may become increasingly smaller.
“That’s why, of course, we are afraid,” Zelenskyy concluded.
Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the current problems with the country’s military stockpiles, including those related to supplying weapons to Ukraine, are the result of decisions by the previous administration.
According to him, Washington is already reviewing its approaches to the use of defense resources and emphasizes the need to replenish stockpiles as quickly as possible amid simultaneous support for Ukraine and the military campaign against Iran.
