Ukraine sent interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with
The New York Times published on Monday.
As the war in Iran spirals beyond its borders, Ukraine has sent interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with The New York Times.
The United States made the request for help on Thursday, and the Ukrainian team left the next day, Mr. Zelensky said. It was expected to arrive in the Middle East soon.
“We reacted immediately,” Mr. Zelensky said on Friday evening during a train ride I took with him from eastern Ukraine to the capital, Kyiv. “I said, yes, of course, we will send our experts.”
The White House did not respond to a question about whether the United States had asked for Ukraine’s help.
The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran risks redirecting world attention away from the war in Ukraine. But it has also given Kyiv an opportunity to use its hard-won expertise and advanced technology on a new front. The country has eagerly offered to help U.S. forces and their Middle Eastern allies defend against the sorts of Iranian-designed attack drones that Russia has been using in Ukraine for years.
Kyiv is hoping to score points with the United States in American-brokered peace talks. The relationship remains fraught. On Thursday, President Trump again said he viewed Mr. Zelensky as more of an impediment to a peace deal than President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who ordered the invasion. Mr. Trump has been much more solicitous of Moscow than his predecessor was.
