Zelenskyy is hoping that peace negotiations with Russia will continue as usual in Abu Dhabi despite the conflict between Israel, Iran and the US that has shaken all of West Asia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he will send drone defence specialists to West Asia if Gulf nations help get a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine is ready to send drone defense specialists to protect Middle East cities if nations there help it get a ceasefire with Russia pic.twitter.com/R9nO6PH6B5
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 3, 2026
Zelenskyy is hoping that peace negotiations with Russia will continue as usual in Abu Dhabi despite the conflict between Israel, Iran and the US that has shaken all of West Asia.
The United Arab Emirates and its capital Abu Dhabi have been hit by Iranian strikes since Saturday in response to joint Israeli-US attacks on Iran.
Abu Dhabi had hosted talks mediated by the United States to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Zelensky said a new round of negotiations had been scheduled between March 5 and 8.
“The meeting should take place, it is important for us, we support this meeting,” Zelenskyy told reporters.
“If there are difficulties with Abu Dhabi because of missiles and drones, then I think we have Turkey, we have Switzerland,” he said. “We will definitely support any of these three venues for the meeting.”
Moscow was also in favour of continuing dialogue. “A political and diplomatic settlement remains the preferred approach” for Russia, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked whether Russia’s stance on the negotiations has changed after US-Iran talks failed.
But a prolonged war with Iran may also impact deliveries of key air defence systems that Kyiv uses to fend off Russian attacks – including the US-made Patriot batteries.
“If there are prolonged hostilities in the Middle East, it will certainly affect supplies. I am sure of that,” Zelensky said.
Europe’s system to purchase US weapons for Ukraine – also called PURL – is still functioning, he added.
With inputs from agencies
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