Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy used an address to the UK Parliament to warn that the security lessons from Russia’s war on Ukraine now apply directly to the Middle East, the Gulf region, and far beyond. Drawing on Ukraine’s experience defending against Iranian-made Shahed drones used by Russia, he argued that the cost of security is rising for democracies while authoritarian regimes are finding cheaper ways to wage war over long distances.
Speaking to lawmakers, diplomats, and journalists, Zelenskiy thanked the United Kingdom and its people for their support since the start of the full-scale invasion, stressing that trust in Britain among Ukrainians is among the highest of all Kyiv’s partners. He framed security not as an abstract goal but as the foundation for a functioning economy, social services, and any realistic hope of a normal life for future generations.
Security as the foundation of everything else
Zelenskiy argued that without credible security, no country can build a strong economy, maintain social services that truly work, or offer real hope to its citizens. Security, in his telling, is not just about military power but also about protecting culture, ensuring respect for rights, and guaranteeing that people feel safe in their homes and on their streets.
He urged today’s leaders to recognise that their core duty is to deliver real, practical security to their people. That includes national defenses proven in wartime, but also the political will to push back against regimes that undermine international norms and invest heavily in tools of terror.
The Ukrainian leader rejected any approach that tolerates or normalises the actions of states that export instability and violence. Instead, he called for a strategy that anticipates how threats evolve, especially as new technologies make it easier and cheaper to launch attacks from afar.
Ukraine’s role in defending against Shahed drones
A central part of Zelenskiy’s message was Ukraine’s growing role in helping other countries defend against drones supplied by Iran. He revealed that 201 Ukrainian military experts are already working in the Middle East and Gulf region, with another 34 ready to deploy. These teams, he said, are in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and soon Kuwait, cooperating under agreements with partner states, including the United States.
Zelenskiy framed this deployment as part of a broader “drone deal” that Ukraine has proposed to Washington and is ready to extend to other reliable partners. The idea is to share Ukraine’s battlefield-tested experience, from practical drone defenses to the prospect of future defense alliances built around these capabilities.
He argued that leaving Ukraine’s wartime experience and innovations outside of wider security frameworks would be a strategic mistake for any partner country. The United Kingdom, he added, understands these opportunities well, and he welcomed a new declaration signed with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a sign of deepening cooperation.
The Iran-Russia drone axis and cost imbalance
Zelenskiy detailed how Iran began producing Shahed attack drones years ago as a relatively low-cost way to damage high-value infrastructure targets. Around three years ago, he said, the Iranian regime transferred these drones to Russia, taught Russian forces how to use them, and provided technology that enabled production on Russian soil. Russia then upgraded the designs, and Ukraine now has evidence that Shaheds used in the wider region also contain Russian components.
This cooperation means that what is happening around Iran today is not some distant conflict from Kyiv’s perspective. The same networks and technologies that threaten Ukraine are now shaping security in the Middle East and beyond. Zelenskiy warned that regimes in Moscow and Tehran are “brothers in hatred” and therefore brothers in weapons, united by a willingness to target civilians and critical infrastructure.
He highlighted the staggering cost imbalance created by such weapons. A single Iranian Shahed drone may cost around $50,000 to produce, yet many partners use air-defense missiles costing up to $4 million each or dispatch expensive combat aircraft to intercept them. No country, he argued, can sustain that kind of asymmetry at scale.
Ukraine, by necessity, developed far more cost-effective countermeasures. According to Zelenskiy, Ukrainian systems can now stop a Shahed drone with two or three interceptors costing under $10,000 in total. This shift in the economics of defense, he suggested, is one of Ukraine’s most important contributions to collective security.
Can the world live alongside regimes built on hatred?
Zelenskiy asked whether the international community can realistically coexist with regimes that are openly built on hatred and coercion. Ukraine tried to live in peace with Russia, he reminded his audience, yet it faced two major invasions in a decade. The Middle East, likewise, has not experienced a full year of genuine peace for as long as the current Iranian regime has been in power.
These regimes, he warned, are gaining new ways to kill cheaply over long distances. They are experimenting with artificial intelligence and other technologies, and they can force their own populations to support war efforts directly or indirectly. As a result, mass attacks by drones no longer require billionaire-level resources; they are increasingly within reach of non-state actors, criminal networks, terrorist groups, or even lone attackers.
In Zelenskiy’s view, this means that oceans, deserts, or mountains will not shield any country if authoritarian regimes and their proxies are allowed to succeed. If “evil wins,” as he put it, the evolution of warfare will bridge any geographic distance. That is why he believes it is worth investing now to protect life and to ensure security systems evolve faster than the tools of aggression.
Explainer: What is the Iran-Russia drone partnership?
The Iran-Russia drone partnership refers to the transfer of Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones and related technology to Russia, which then uses and adapts these systems in its war against Ukraine and potentially in other regions. Iran benefits by testing and refining its systems in real wartime conditions and by deepening strategic ties with Moscow.
For Russia, access to Shahed drones has offered a way to strike Ukrainian cities and infrastructure at relatively low cost, forcing Ukraine and its partners to expend significant resources on air defense. Over time, Russia has reportedly begun manufacturing its own variants domestically, incorporating Russian components while retaining core features of the original Iranian design.
This cooperation has implications far beyond Ukraine. If Iranian-designed drones with Russian modifications appear in other conflicts, it suggests a shared toolbox for authoritarian regimes that are willing to trade hardware, tactics, and technology to undermine regional and global security.
How AI and cheap drones are reshaping security
Zelenskiy also touched on the broader technological trend: the combination of artificial intelligence, automation, and low-cost hardware that allows attackers to launch coordinated strikes at a fraction of what it costs defenders to stop them. AI can be used to plan flight paths, evade defenses, or select targets, while cheap drones make mass attacks economically feasible.
For democratic states, this shift raises pressing questions about how to design air defenses, share technology among allies, and rethink deterrence. Traditional systems such as Patriot and THAAD, while effective against missiles, are expensive to operate at scale against swarms of small drones. That is why Ukraine’s experience in bringing down Shaheds more cheaply is increasingly relevant to partners in Europe, the Middle East, and beyond.
Zelenskiy argued that the only sustainable path is to keep the evolution of security systems ahead of the evolution of warfare tools. That means deepening cooperation on technology, sharing battlefield lessons, and maintaining strong sanctions that limit the resources available to aggressor states. He thanked the UK for not easing sanctions on Russian oil and for maintaining strong support for Ukraine’s defense.
Ultimately, his message to the UK Parliament was that investing in Ukraine’s victory and in joint defense projects is not charity but strategic self-protection. The same drones and tactics tested over Ukrainian cities could one day be turned against other regions if regimes in Moscow and Tehran are allowed to prevail.