Prolonging the war with Iran will be very beneficial for Russia and extremely harmful to Ukraine, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the American online publication "Axios" on Monday, LETA reports citing INTERFAX and UKRAINSKA PRAVDA.
Russia's oil-dependent economy is receiving a significant boost from rising oil prices and the easing of U.S. sanctions, noted the Ukrainian president.
"I am confident that Russia is interested in a prolonged war [in the Middle East]. It benefits them — the U.S. is focusing on the Middle East and may reduce military aid to Ukraine," Zelensky said.
"Sanctions are being partially lifted. I see only benefits for Russia from continuing the war with Iran," the president emphasized.
When asked if he was concerned that a prolonged war with Iran could hinder arms supplies to Ukraine, Zelensky stated: "I am not just concerned — I am confident that we will face such challenges. Absolutely for sure."
He acknowledged that the negotiations held in Miami, Florida, between the Ukrainian delegation and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoys Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner yielded no results.
According to Zelensky, after the conclusion of the U.S. war with Iran, the American administration will resume pressure on Ukraine to achieve territorial concessions and end the war with Russia.
"I am confident that President Trump and his team want to end the war. I am worried that they see only one way to do this," he said.
"They do not see another way to stop Putin other than to withdraw Ukrainian troops from our territory," Zelensky stated.
"But why should we pay for this? We are not the aggressors. I am concerned that no one truly appreciates the danger of such a decision for our security," the president of Ukraine emphasized.
After Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska in August, media reported that Russia was allegedly ready to freeze the front line in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions if Ukraine withdrew its troops from the Donetsk region.
In the part of the Donetsk region that Russia has not managed to capture, there are fortified areas, and transferring these territories would facilitate Russia's ability to continue its offensive westward.
