Zelensky Warns Iran Conflict Risks Overshadowing Ukraine War

Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that the ongoing conflict in Iran is causing the Russian aggression in Ukraine to be overshadowed. He warned that it would be a grave mistake to assume that efforts to end the war in Ukraine cannot resume until the conflict in Iran is resolved.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour from his office in Kyiv, he noted that while technical-level talks with the U.S. are ongoing, he sees no opportunity for high-level meetings until the Iran issue is settled.

Zelensky also highlighted the challenge of having the same U.S. negotiating team, led by Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, handling both Iran and Ukraine. He emphasized that while the U.S. is currently focused on the Iran war, it must not neglect Ukraine.

'Ukraine is not a matter to be looked at later; it has already become a major tragedy. We must find a way to manage both simultaneously,' he said. According to Zelensky, the war has also caused problems in the supply of necessary weapons, particularly a shortage of anti-ballistic missiles, which he attributed to limited production capacity in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has approved a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, which Zelensky described as a matter of life and existence. This loan had been stalled for a long time after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked it, demanding the resumption of Russian oil supplies through Ukraine.

Now, with oil supplies resuming via the Druzhba pipeline, the obstacle has been removed and the loan process has gained momentum. Zelensky stated that due to a lack of sufficient financial resources, Ukraine has been unable to fully produce the weapons it is capable of manufacturing. Zelensky explained.