KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A new round of U.S-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine planned for this week has been postponed because of war in the Middle East, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Meanwhile, the United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Kyiv’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones. Russia has fired tens of thousands of Shaheds at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor just over four years ago,
Zelenskyy said. Iran has responded with the same type of drones to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.
The Iran war, now in its sixth day, has drawn international attention away from Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. Western governments and analysts say the Russia-Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, while there is no sign that yearlong U.S.-led peace efforts will stop the fighting any time soon.
“Right now, because of the situation around Iran, there are not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting,” Zelenskyy said late Wednesday. “But as soon as the security situation and the overall political context allow us to resume that trilateral diplomatic work, it will be done.”
Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.
Ukrainian assistance, he said, will be provided only if it does not weaken Ukraine’s own defenses and if it adds leverage to Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts to stop the Russian invasion.
“We help to defend from war those who help us, Ukraine, bring a just end to the war” with Russia, Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine’s army has recently pushed back Russian forces at some points along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Localized Ukrainian counterattacks liberated more territory than Ukrainian forces lost in the last two weeks of February, the Washington-based think tank said this week, estimating the recovered land at about 257 square kilometers (100 square miles) since Jan. 1.
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