Ukraine will soon face a shortage of missiles to fight against Russia as a result of the Iran war, Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
The conflict in the Middle East has entered a third week, with shockwaves felt by the Gulf as Tehran attacks US bases and assets in the region.
On Tuesday, Iran confirmed their chief security, Ali Larijani, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, as they vowed a “decisive and regrettable” revenge for his death.
With no end to the war in sight, the Ukrainian president has stressed that his country risks facing a deficit in missiles to fight against Russia.
“For Putin, a long war in Iran is a plus,” Mr Zelensky told the BBC. “In addition to energy prices, it means the depletion of US reserves, and the depletion of air defence manufacturers. So we [Ukraine] have a depletion of resources.”
He added that he has a “very bad feeling” about the consequences of the Iran war for Ukraine, saying negotiations towards peace are being “constantly postponed. There is one reason: war in Iran”.
On his visit to London on Tuesday, Mr Zelensky addressed MPs in parliament, calling Russia and Iran “brothers in hatred and weapons”.
He said: “We want regimes built on hatred to never, never win in anything. And we want no such regime to threaten Europe or our partners.”
At Downing Street, the prime minister told Mr Zelensky that Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to benefit from the Middle East conflict.
“I think it’s really important that we are clear that the focus must remain on Ukraine,” Sir Keir Starmer said. “There’s obviously a conflict in Iran going on, in the Middle East, but we can’t lose focus on what’s going on in Ukraine and the need for our support.”
He added: “Putin can’t be the one who benefits from a conflict in Iran, whether that’s oil prices or the dropping of sanctions.”
His message comes as the US temporarily loosened some restrictions on Russian oil in a bid to ease pressure on global supplies triggered by the strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation against Gulf states.
The prime minister also called on European allies to leverage Ukraine’s hard-won military expertise. Mr Zelensky said he had sent 201 experts in countering Iranian-made Shahed-type attack drones to the Middle East and Gulf region.
Meanwhile, the UK will put £500,000 towards a new “AI centre of excellence” in Kyiv, which would be made up of experts working to see how the technology can best be used for a “battlefield advantage”, No 10 said.
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