In a 15-minute phone interview with MSNBC journalist Stephanie Ruhle, Trump said Ukraine "has done nothing" in the Middle East, and that everything Zelenskyy had said about providing assistance was done for "political and PR purposes." Ruhle reported the exchange directly.
When asked specifically about Ukraine's role in helping US allies — including in countering Iranian drones — Trump flatly rejected the premise. According to Ruhle, he repeated an earlier position he had stated publicly: the United States does not need Ukraine's help to shoot down Iranian drones in the region.
Trump also returned to a recurring theme in his recent statements, saying Zelenskyy is "harder to deal with" than Putin, and adding that the Russian leader "is not afraid of Europe." He separately criticized NATO allies for not supporting US operations against Iran — then said Washington does not need their help either.
Zelenskyy responded without directly engaging Trump's characterization. "Rhetoric is rhetoric," he said, adding that "the main thing is that we know what we are doing."
What Ukraine says it is doing is substantial. Zelenskyy confirmed to journalists, according to a Suspilne, that 228 Ukrainian specialists are currently stationed in Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, with additional work underway in Kuwait and Jordan. He declined to provide operational details.
"Local air defense specialists are at a fairly high level, but they work more with ballistics," Zelenskyy said. "As for small-scale air defense — how to work against massive Shahed strikes — no one has this experience except us."
Ukraine has received 11 requests for security support related to Iranian Shaheds and similar threats, according to Zelenskyy — from Iran's neighbors, European countries, and the United States.
The deployment runs parallel to a US military transfer reported last week: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the American military sent 10,000 Merops interceptor drones to the Middle East — the same drone that demonstrated effective combat use in Ukraine.
