Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 25, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 25, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUkraine’s President Zelenskiy accuses Russia of attempting to blackmail the US by offering to halt intelligence sharing with Iran if Washington cuts off intelligence support to Ukraine, while also detailing Russian components in Iranian drones and Ukraine’s efforts to aid Gulf states against attacks
KYIV, March 25 (Reuters) - Russia sought to blackmail the United States by offering to stop sharing military intelligence with Iran if, in return, Washington would cut off Ukraine from its intelligence data, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
Zelenskiy, who said on Monday that Ukraine's military intelligence has "irrefutable" evidence that Russia is continuing to provide intelligence to Iran, told Reuters he had seen the data but provided no further details.
Speaking in his presidential compound in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said that some Iranian drones, used to attack U.S. military assets and its allies during the war in the Middle East, contained Russian components.
"I have reports from our intelligence services showing that Russia is doing this and saying: 'I will not pass on intelligence to Iran if America stops passing intelligence to Ukraine.' Isn't that blackmail? Absolutely," Zelenskiy said.
He did not say who, according to the reports, Russia was addressing the comments to. Russia has denied assisting Iran in its month-old conflict with the United States and Israel - a denial that Washington said earlier this month that it had also received directly from Moscow when the issue was discussed.
Ukraine, which has faced sustained attacks by Iranian-designed Shahed drones since Russia launched its invasion in 2022, is helping several Gulf states - including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar - to counter drone attacks on their territory, the president said.
Zelenskiy said he hoped that Ukraine would be able to reach long-term deals with some Gulf countries that would raise funds for the production of Ukrainian drone interceptors or receiving much-needed air-defence missiles.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash and Daniel Flynn; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Zelenskiy claimed Russia tried to blackmail the US by offering to stop sharing military intelligence with Iran if Washington cut Ukraine off from US intelligence.
Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine's military intelligence has irrefutable evidence of Russia continuing to provide intelligence to Iran.
Ukraine has sustained attacks by Iranian-designed Shahed drones since Russia's invasion in 2022.
Ukraine is assisting several Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, to counter drone attacks on their territory.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine hopes to secure long-term deals to raise funds for producing Ukrainian drone interceptors or to receive air-defense missiles.
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