Zelenskyy Says White House Weighing U.S.–Ukraine Drone Production Deal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Kyiv is awaiting White House sign‑off on a major U.S.–Ukraine agreement to jointly produce drones and air‑defense systems designed to work as a single network against mass Shahed‑style drone and missile swarms, a proposal Ukraine first put to Washington last year. He argued that lessons from Russia’s use of tens of thousands of Iranian‑designed drones over Ukraine and Iran’s recent attacks in the Middle East should push U.S. officials to approve the plan, which would help lock in long‑term foreign support for Ukraine’s defense and give Kyiv leverage in any future negotiations with Moscow. Zelenskyy is in Romania and will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where the Élysée says talks will focus in part on countering Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers moving oil in violation of sanctions as new research shows Moscow’s daily oil revenue has risen about 14% since the Iran war began. A Ukrainian official also claimed long‑range drones hit a major oil depot and transshipment terminal in Russia’s Krasnodar region, calling it a significant blow to Russian fuel logistics, while the Kremlin denounced a separate strike on a gas‑pipeline compressor station as ‘absolutely reckless.’ The story underscores how the Iran war is reshaping U.S. and allied thinking on air defenses, sanction enforcement, and Russia’s war‑financing even as U.S.‑mediated Ukraine peace talks remain on hold.