KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 14 condemned Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel and said his country needed help from its allies to fend off threats from the air, just as Israel did.
Mr Zelensky again called on the US Congress to approve a vital aid package that has been blocked for months by political wrangling.
Ukraine’s forces are facing new onslaughts from Russian troops in the east and daily attacks on cities and infrastructure from Russian missiles and drones.
Writing on social media platform X, Mr Zelensky said: “Iran’s actions threaten the entire region and the world, just as Russia’s actions threaten a larger conflict and the obvious collaboration between the two regimes in spreading terror must face a resolute and united response from the world.”
Speaking later in his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said the world had seen that “Israel was not alone in its defence – the threats in the sky were also destroyed by its allies”.
“And when Ukraine says allies cannot turn a blind eye to Russian missiles and drones, it means that it is necessary to act and act strongly.”
Ukraine’s skies, Mr Zelensky said, were “not protected by rhetoric”.
He added: “And the fact that we in Ukraine have been waiting months for a vital support package – the fact that we are still waiting for a vote in Congress – testifies to the fact that the confidence of terrorists has also been growing for months.
“There is no more time to be wasted.”
Mr Mike Johnson, speaker of the US House of Representatives, said on April 14 that he would try to secure passage of aid to Israel this week after Iran’s attack, but he did not say whether the legislation would include assistance for Ukraine and other allies.
Iran has supplied thousands of Shahed kamikaze drones to Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022. They have been used to exhaust Ukrainian air defences and hit infrastructure far from the front lines.
Mr Zelensky for months has urged Ukraine’s Western allies, particularly the US, to summon the “political will” to provide the air defences and weaponry Ukraine needs.
On April 13 he said Germany would supply a US-made Patriot air defence system and air defence missiles to Ukraine at a “critical time”.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, speaking on national TV on April 14, said negotiations were proceeding on securing more Patriot systems, but he expressed a measure of frustration at the slow pace of acquiring them.
“With all my due respect and gratitude to the US, do you believe that the US Army does not have one spare Patriot battery that it can transfer to Ukraine?” he said. REUTERS
