Zelensky Proposes to Deploy Military Instructors to Gulf Nations

(MENAFN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed deploying military instructors to Gulf nations to help defend against Iranian drone and missile attacks — but attached a pointed diplomatic condition: that those same nations leverage their ties with Moscow to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The offer, made Tuesday, arrives at a moment of acute strain on Ukraine's own armed forces, which have been battling widespread draft evasion, battlefield desertions, and mounting casualties throughout the war with Russia. Russian military estimates place Kyiv's total losses in 2025 alone at more than 520,000 — a figure that casts a long shadow over Zelensky's willingness to send personnel abroad.

Speaking Tuesday, Zelensky laid out his proposition directly. "If the Middle Eastern leaders manage to talk [Russian President Vladimir] Putin into a ceasefire [with Ukraine]… then the guys who are now defending our skies could travel and defend or teach those nations how to defend [themselves] from Iranian attacks." He further floated the idea of a materiel exchange, proposing that Gulf states trade PAC-3 missiles from the US-manufactured Patriot air defense system for Ukrainian drone interceptors.

The proposal intersects with stalled peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, where Ukraine has consistently demanded a temporary ceasefire as a prerequisite for substantive negotiations. Russia has flatly rejected the condition, arguing that any pause would simply allow Ukrainian forces time to rearm and regroup. The Kremlin has repeatedly insisted that the conflict's underlying causes must be addressed before any resolution is possible.

Zelensky's move mirrors a parallel initiative announced by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer the day prior. "We will also bring experts from Ukraine together with our own experts to help Gulf partners shoot down Iranian drones attacking them," Starmer said on Monday, framing the deployment as essential to protecting British nationals and allied partners operating across the region.

The diplomatic maneuvering comes against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Middle East war. On Saturday, US and Israeli forces launched sweeping airstrikes across Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior military commanders — strikes that have since continued. Tehran responded with successive waves of drone and missile attacks targeting Israel and US and UK military installations throughout the region.

Moscow was swift to condemn the killing. President Putin described the strike on Khamenei as a "cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law" — a statement that places the Kremlin in rhetorical alignment with Tehran even as Zelensky attempts to use the Gulf crisis as diplomatic leverage against Russia.

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