On Ukraine, from CNN:
"Ukraine’s drone experts will be “on site” in the Middle East next week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, as he suggested that resource-sharing with the US can be a “two-way street.”
The Ukrainian leader made the comments after he was asked whether Ukraine would be able to help the US and its allies in the Gulf to repel Iranian drones.
“Next week, when the experts are on site, they will look at the situation and help, because they are coming with their capabilities,” Zelensky told reporters, Ukrainian news agency Unian reported.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that Gulf leaders and the US had asked for Ukraine’s help in repelling Iranian-made Shahed drones, which have become a signature weapon of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
And officials in Kyiv have signaled that they can share their know-how on combating drones with states in the Middle East amid the current conflict.
“If we are talking about increasing certain resources, we would very much like this to be a two-way street,” Zelensky said, in an apparent reference to receiving US air defense missiles.
“You know what resources we are lacking, and we understand what resources the Gulf countries are lacking.”"
Something I was not aware of was that Ukraine are using anti-drone drones, that they have developed. Article here:
Ukraine offers low-cost interceptor drones to aid US in Middle East war | AP News
From that :
"Lockheed Martin in a statement said it produced a record 600 PAC-3 MSE interceptors for Patriot batteries in all of 2025. Zelenskyy claimed Thursday that Middle Eastern nations expended over 800 such missiles in just three days — more than Ukraine has held in reserve throughout the entire four-year war.
"To counter the Shaheds, Kyiv developed low-cost interceptor drones priced at roughly $1,000 to $2,000, moving the systems from prototype to mass production within months in 2025.
But Ukraine never developed a defense against ballistic missiles. That’s why securing Patriot missiles remains a life-or-death challenge for Kyiv.
Against this backdrop, Zelenskyy is pitching a “swap” to partners. “Our message is very simple,” he said. “We’d like to quietly ... receive the Patriot missiles we have a deficit of, and give them a corresponding number of interceptors.”""
It appears everyone is doing ammo counting, apart from Trump.
Zelenskyy and his team are playing this well. It looks like his team will be arriving in the Gulf just as the Patriots are all gone.
I reckon they will turn up in full car mechanic mode:
" Oh dear oh dear. What have you done here ? This won't be a cheap fix", they will mutter, as they chew the end of a cheap ballpoint and roll a super slim cigarette from the tobacco dust at the bottom on an empty pack of Golden Virginia.