The United States is ignoring evidence of Russia helping Iran because the Trump administration still trusts Vladimir Putin, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian intelligence accused Russia of feeding Iran with data used to strike US forces and other targets in the Gulf during the six-week conflict. Trump and his top officials have suggested they are aware of Russian interference, but have played down the threat.
In an interview with Alastair Campbell on The Rest is Politics: Leading podcast, Zelensky said he had tried to raise the issue, but feared US negotiators were blinded by their close contact with the Kremlin.
“I said this publicly. Did we hear a reaction from the US to Russia that they have to stop it? The problem is they trust Putin. And it’s a pity,” he said.
Zelensky judged that Trump’s lead negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had “spent too much time” with Putin and his senior officials. The envoys have steered talks between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington since Trump returned to office last year.
Volodymyr Zelensky told Alastair Campbell that the US still seemed to trust Putin, in his assessment (The Rest is Politics: Leading)
“They don’t want to recognise that Putin will lie to them and that he can continue the occupation even after such steps,” he said, referring to Ukraine. “The Americans are sure that they can trust Putin”.
Zelensky has warned Trump of Russia’s historical precedent in flouting ceasefire agreements, arguing the need for watertight security arrangements to end the conflict.
But Russia has stuck fast to its maximalist demands for Ukrainian territory, and the latest round of talks was making little progress before the conflict in the Gulf paused discussions.
Zelensky has since claimed that Russia provided Iran with intelligence to help strike US forces and bases in the region after hostilities erupted on 28 February.
He said in March that Moscow had sought to blackmail the United States by offering to stop sharing military intelligence with Iran if, in return, Washington would cut off Kyiv from its intelligence data.
A recent Ukrainian intelligence assessment claimed that Russian satellites were scanning military facilities and critical sites across the Middle East, indicating deep collaboration between Russian and Iranian hackers in the cyber domain.
Vladimir Putin with the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2022 (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader)
Russia on Wednesday denied the assessments were true. Western intelligence officials also told the Financial Times last month that Russia was shipping drones, medicine and food to Iran as part of a deal agreed after 28 February.
Iran has acknowledged a longstanding military cooperation with Russia, but would not be pressed on how the Kremlin was involved in the war in the Gulf.
Zelensky also addressed Ukraine’s support for allies in the Gulf region, sharing expertise on tackling Iranian drones. More than 200 Ukrainian military experts were sent to the Middle East to share their knowledge on how to defend against drone attacks.
“On our strategy, it’s long term relations. Yes, we have a system for how to not only…defend and destroy Iranian drones. It’s not about Iranians or Russians, it doesn’t matter. It’s about the system, what we have,” he said.
Zelensky said allies were happy to receive Ukraine’s experience.
“I think this is what we need to do now in our union in Europe. to do, not to wait, not to wait when it will be late.”
A plume of smoke rises after a strike on the Iranian capital Tehran, on 3 March (AFP/Getty)
He added that a long war in the Middle East risks using up materiel desperately needed by Ukraine in its defence against Russia.
“The focus of the United States is on the Middle East now. If the war will be long, I don’t know, God bless, they will make some ceasefire steps etc. I don’t know.
“But I know one thing, that long war, it’s using a lot of different weapons, what we need, anti-ballistic missiles, patriot missiles, what we need very much. Even before this war, we had a deficit with these, you know, components, but with the war, of course.”
The Rest is Politics: Leading will air on Thursday, 9 April at 6pm, available here or wherever you get your podcasts.