Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed on Monday to The Post that Ukraine is prepared to assist President Trump in addressing the escalating drone threat posed by Iran, even as other U.S. allies remain cautious.
Zelensky emphasized, “We responded without delay,” highlighting Ukraine’s swift initiative to support America in confronting Iran’s authoritarian regime.
“Whenever there is an opportunity to help protect civilians or U.S. citizens, we dispatch our teams without hesitation,” he continued, underscoring Kyiv’s commitment to demonstrating its reliability as a U.S. ally.
Zelensky’s statements coincide with Trump’s calls for U.S. allies to aid in safeguarding the vital Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East. This strategic passageway is crucial, as it handles approximately 20% of the global oil supply.
On Sunday, Trump appealed to nations, including China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, urging them to join U.S. forces in maintaining open passage through the strait after Iranian threats to commercial shipping.
While these countries remain hesitant, Ukraine has already taken proactive steps by deploying military experts to the Middle East. These teams are tasked with analyzing and countering Iranian drone attacks, which threaten American forces and bases—a type of aggression Ukraine has been battling for years in its conflict with Russia, according to Zelensky.
A White House official, asked for comment by The Post on Monday on Ukraine’s assistance, referred to Trump’s Friday comments to Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade in which he said, “We don’t need [Ukraine’s] help in drone defense.
“We know more about drones than anybody,” Trump said. “We have the best drones in the world, actually.”
The US official added that “Operation Epic Fury has been a resounding success with Iranian ballistic missile attacks down 90 percent and drone attacks down 95 percent.”
The future of warfare
Ukraine has more experience than any country in countering Shahed drones — which have already proven deadly for American forces in the 2-week-old war.
The only direct-combat deaths of US troops so far came from a single Iranian drone strike, when an Iranian drone slammed into a US operations center near Camp Arifjan in Kuwait on March 1, killing six American service members and wounding dozens more.
That kind of attack is only the beginning for the future of war, Zelensky predicted.
“No one is waging missile attacks anymore,” he said. “Everyone is using hundreds and thousands of drones.”
That is in part because traditional missiles such as those used in Patriot systems cost millions of dollars per shot, while Iranian-style drones can be built for tens of thousands of dollars — or less.
“Missiles will end,” Zelensky said.
Russia is already launching 350 to 500 drones at Ukraine every day, the Ukrainian leader said — with plans to push that number to as many as 1,000 daily.
If those tactics spread globally, even the world’s strongest militaries — including the United States — could struggle to keep up, he said.
“A drone has no distance,” Zelensky said. “Today, it can go 100 kilometers. Tomorrow, it can go 1,000.”
The alarming shift means even advanced US air defenses could be overwhelmed.
Ukraine has spent more than four years adapting to exactly that threat — turning the battlefield into a laboratory for drone warfare.
In addition to using much cheaper drones instead of mind-bogglingly expensive missiles in attacks, Ukrainian forces also are increasingly relying on small interceptor drones costing just a few thousand dollars to destroy incoming aircraft, as opposed to interceptor missiles with massive price tags.
“We are number one in the world in these technologies now,” Zelensky said.
Drone deal
Kyiv wants to lend its hard-earned expertise to allies such as the US, and multiple Gulf countries have already asked Ukraine for help countering Iranian-made Shahed drones, the same weapons Russia has used extensively against Ukrainian cities.
Zelensky is now pitching a sweeping US-Ukraine “drone deal” that would combine America’s industrial power with Ukraine’s battlefield experience.
“We could build the world’s biggest drone factory,” Zelensky said. “The United States would provide production and financing. Ukraine would provide the technology and experience.”
The system could quickly be deployed to defend American forces and allies worldwide from Iranian attacks.
“We can use it to defend American soldiers on bases,” Zelensky said.
“We know what it means to be under these mass strikes,” he said.
“Without second thought, we sent our people” to the Mideast after the war broke out earlier this month.
The Ukrainian president suggested American troops could train in Ukraine to learn how to fight the kind of drone-heavy battlefield now dominating modern war.
“With your experience in previous wars, you have not experienced this kind of war,” he said, addressing US officials. “It would be normal to come here to get trained.”
‘America’s ally’
At the same time, Zelensky warned that Russia wants the Iran conflict to escalate and continue — hoping it will distract the US from ending the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.
“If America is not pressing Russia, money comes flowing into Russia,” he said. “They are waiting for the erosion of US support to Ukraine.”
Zelensky praised Trump for launching peace talks aimed at ending the war with Russia but said negotiations must continue even as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
“Peace talks should not be forgotten,” he said. “Ukraine is definitely America’s ally. President Trump wants peace, and we want peace as well.”
Zelensky warned the world may only be seeing the beginning of a dangerous technological shift.
Artificial-intelligence–guided drone swarms capable of evading air defenses are already being developed, he said — and could soon appear on battlefields around the world.
“In four years, there has been a huge leap in technology,” Zelensky said.
The next leap, he warned, could make today’s threats look small.
“We will see several leaps in technology in the next three or four years,” he said.
Without stronger alliances and faster innovation, the consequences could be global, Ukraine’s leader said.
“War comes when you are weak,” Zelensky said. “Not when you are strong.”
