President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine now has “cards” after the United States asked Kyiv to help protect American military bases in the Middle East from Iranian drones.
Speaking in an interview with Irish blogger Caolan Robertson released on Wednesday, March 11, Zelensky was asked whether Ukraine now has leverage in negotiations.
“Do you think Ukraine has the cards now?” the interviewer asked.
“I don’t know, you tell me,” Zelensky replied. “I think yes. But I think that we had them.”
“It’s like a good player,” he continued. “You can have good cards, but it’s not important to show everybody that you have these cards.”
“I think that a year ago we had them. I didn’t show them. But now everybody understands that we have,” he said.
Zelensky said the request from Washington reflected the expertise Ukraine has developed during the war, particularly in countering Iranian-designed drones that Russia has used extensively against Ukrainian cities.
“It’s a good feeling. This is thanks to our soldiers, our talented people, and the many industries that we have developed since the start of the war. We have reached a high level now,” Zelensky said.
US President Donald Trump has previously argued that Zelensky had no “cards” in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and should reach a peace deal with Moscow.
On Monday, Zelensky said Ukraine has sent drone specialists and interceptor drones to help defend US military bases in Jordan from Iranian drone attacks. Zelensky said that the United States requested assistance last week and that a Ukrainian team departed the following day.
“We reacted immediately,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine had agreed to send experts to assist in protecting US forces in the region.
The Ukrainian president has also suggested that Middle Eastern countries could exchange air defense missiles for Ukrainian drone-interception technology as Kyiv faces shortages of advanced Western air defense ammunition.