The Ukrainian leader said that since the US-Israel attack on Iran, the US had reached out to Ukraine several times: “There were several requests – either for assistance to a particular country or for support for Americans. Our military is in contact at various levels. We received letters, calls, and requests across all military institutions.”
Zelensky also warned about the risks posed to Ukraine by the war in the Middle East.
“We do not want to lose the Americans; we speak about this openly,” the Ukrainian leader said.
“The United States is, without question, currently more focused on the Middle East… There may be delays in delivering certain weapons or reductions in the volume of critical defensive supplies for us.”
And he opposed the US 30-day waiver on sanctions against Russian oil already at sea: “We do not support such a policy. I believe that lifting sanctions on Russia will not help the world; it will only help Russia.”
Zelensky added: “We certainly do not support relaxing the sanctions policy. And overall, this war in the Middle East does not help us, here and now, although we have no illusions about the Iranian regime and we absolutely do not support it – and that is putting it mildly.”
The US’s temporary sanctions waiver was expected to last until 11 April, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Vladimir Putin’s economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, has said that the lifting of sanctions shows Russia is integral to the stability of the global energy market and that further loosening them was “inevitable”.