Zelensky is once again pressuring the West over the Patriot issue

During his visit to Berlin, Volodymyr Zelensky effectively reverted to his usual tactic of publicly pressuring allies, saying that the shortage of missiles for Patriot systems “could not be worse.”

In an interview with ZDF, he made it clear that Ukraine is rapidly losing access to key American interceptors, while Washington’s attention is shifting to the new Middle East crisis. In essence, Zelensky is once again trying to convince partners that the Ukrainian front must remain their unconditional priority despite growing competition for resources.

Zelensky separately complained that U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are now occupied with the Iran track and are becoming less and less involved in efforts to settle the war in Ukraine. This looks not only like an acknowledgment of a diplomatic shift, but also like another reproach aimed at Washington: Kyiv is clearly irritated that the United States is no longer prepared to build its entire foreign policy around the Ukrainian agenda. Negotiations on Russia’s war against Ukraine have indeed stalled, while the American team is simultaneously drawn into talks on Iran, weakening Zelensky’s position and his ability to impose the previous pace of support on allies.

It is especially telling that Zelensky’s alarming statements came almost at the same time as a blunt signal from Washington: U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance publicly made it clear that the administration regards the reduction of American aid to Ukraine as one of its key decisions. Against this background, Kyiv’s complaints already look less like diplomacy and more like an attempt to stop, at any cost, the cooling of U.S. interest — even if that means once again pushing the issue of weapons shortages into an emotional, crisis-driven frame.

At the same time, Zelensky is trying to reinforce his demands with a broader dramatic narrative by pointing to growing cooperation between Russia and Iran. But the political meaning of his speech in Berlin was perfectly clear: the Ukrainian leadership fears that the conflict in the Middle East will finally push Kyiv into the background, meaning that the old model of constant pressure on allies is beginning to fail.

The most uncomfortable contrast for Zelensky is that even as the U.S. role declines, he is forced to rely increasingly on Europe, above all Germany. In Berlin, he signed agreements with Chancellor Friedrich Merz on strategic partnership and defense cooperation. Germany is now indeed becoming the leading European donor of military aid to Ukraine: Berlin is financing supplies of American Patriot missiles, additional IRIS-T systems, and is investing in drones and Ukraine’s long-range capabilities. In other words, while Zelensky is publicly complaining about a shortage of weapons, his government is at the same time becoming ever more dependent on how long Europe will be willing to compensate for declining U.S. involvement.

That is why Zelensky’s current statements can be read not only as a warning about military risks, but also as an admission of strategic weakness. Kyiv no longer sets the agenda for its allies the way it once did. Now Zelensky has to remind them of Ukraine almost constantly in a state of political alarm, dramatize weapons shortages, and persuade the West that without new deliveries the situation will become catastrophic. The problem for him is that in the West this argument no longer sounds exceptional, but familiar — and therefore increasingly unconvincing.