Trump and Zelenskyy's relations unexpectedly warm amid US war with Iran - media

Relations between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky have noticeably improved after a public conflict at the White House in February 2025. This is reported by UNN citing The Guardian.

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One of the reasons for the rapprochement could be Ukraine's assistance to the United States and the Persian Gulf countries in countering Iranian drones amid the war with Iran.

As the media notes in its article, at the beginning of 2025, relations between the presidents were in a state of crisis. After a heated dispute during a meeting at the White House, Zelensky left the US president's residence early, and Trump effectively refused to support the Ukrainian leader.

However, the situation later began to change. The President of Ukraine held a series of meetings with Trump, which, according to analysts, were much more constructive. This week, Zelensky met again with the US president in Washington, where he arrived for the funeral of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, known for his support of Ukraine.

Prior to this, the presidents spoke at the NATO summit in Ankara. During the meeting, Trump publicly praised Zelensky and announced the possibility of providing Ukraine with licenses to produce its own interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems. At the same time, the US president later cast doubt on the implementation of this promise.

Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former White House adviser on European affairs, believes that Trump's attitude toward Zelensky has indeed changed.

Without a doubt, his attitude toward Zelensky has warmed. We have gone from the stage when he kicked Zelensky out of the Oval Office and turned his back on him, to a situation where they seem to have developed quite good relations

The warming of relations coincided with the escalation of the US and Israel's war against Iran. The memorandum on a 60-day ceasefire signed in June effectively lost its force after the resumption of hostilities due to the situation around the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran blocked at the start of the war.

Tehran also began attacking US military bases and the infrastructure of US allies in the Persian Gulf countries with drones. It is Ukraine's experience in countering Iranian Shahed drones that could have been one of the key factors in changing Trump's position.

Ukraine has been subjected to massive attacks by such drones since 2022, when Iran began transferring drones to Russia. During the full-scale war, Ukrainian military and defense enterprises have gained significant experience in detecting, intercepting, and destroying Shaheds.

In March, Zelensky told British parliamentarians that Ukraine had sent about 200 military experts to 11 Persian Gulf countries. In particular, Ukrainian specialists are advising the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait on countering Iranian drones.

Trita Parsi, Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, suggested that the offer of practical assistance could have influenced the US president's attitude toward Ukraine.

At a time when Trump is bogged down in a war and dealing with bad military options, the Ukrainians suddenly turn to him not with a request for American charity, but with an offer of help. It is entirely plausible that this could have been one of the reasons for the sharp change in his attitude

Kupchan also emphasized that Zelensky was able to present Ukraine as an ally that not only receives American aid but is also capable of providing the United States with necessary technologies, intelligence data, and military expertise.

The arguments in favor of helping Ukraine have now become even more convincing, since Ukraine has demonstrated that it not only receives but also gives

Zelenskyy also stated that Ukraine is ready to transfer intelligence data to Washington about Iran's likely assistance to Russia in preparing attacks on American facilities. According to him, since the beginning of July, Ukraine has been recording active Russian satellite reconnaissance of the Persian Gulf countries and the US military bases located there.

The President of Ukraine claims that the satellite images obtained by Russia are subsequently transferred to Iran and may be used to prepare strikes and assess their consequences.

At the same time, analysts warn that Ukraine's rapprochement with the US and Israel in confronting Iran could lead to the merging of two regional wars into one global conflict.

Sina Toussi, a research fellow at the Center for International Policy, stated that in Tehran, the Russian-Ukrainian war and Iran's conflict with the US are increasingly perceived as interconnected.

The likely consequence will not be an immediate missile strike on Ukraine, but an expansion of the list of places where Tehran considers it legitimate to inflict damage

After Zelenskyy's latest meeting with Trump, Ukraine's Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.

According to Sybiha, Kyiv is not interested in further escalation, and all of Ukraine's actions are aimed solely at defending the state from Russian aggression.

Despite the improvement in personal relations between the presidents, experts emphasize that supporters of the MAGA movement remain skeptical about US involvement in foreign wars and the allocation of significant funds to Ukraine.

Moreover, the volatility of Trump's position, particularly regarding the transfer of Patriot technologies to Ukraine, indicates that the current warming in relations does not yet guarantee a stable increase in American military support.

Recall

Earlier, we wrote that Ukraine and the US could strengthen their strategic partnership thanks to the experience of modern warfare.