Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin blames Kyiv for attacking gas tanker that exploded off Libya

Volodymyr Zelensky said he has ordered Ukraine’s government to develop options to support Gulf countries facing Iranian drone and missile attacks.

“Our military has the necessary capabilities,” Zelensky said. “Ukrainian experts will work on site, and teams are already negotiating this. We are ready to help protect lives, protect civilians,” he said.

Zelensky added that he spoke with leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, and Bahrain, and is preparing talks with Kuwait’s leadership.

“All of them face a serious threat, and they speak about it openly: Iranian attack drones. The same ‘Shaheds’ that strike our cities and villages, our Ukrainian infrastructure,” he said.

“I have tasked our teams to present ways to support these countries and provide assistance in a manner that does not compromise our own defense here in Ukraine,” Zelensky added.

President ​Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s partners, including the United States, ⁠had sought Kyiv’s help in defending against Iranian drones.

“Partners are ⁠turning to ​us, ⁠to Ukraine, asking for help ⁠in defending against (Iranian-designed) Shahed ​drones, ⁠with expertise and real ‌operational experience,” the Ukrainian leader said.

“There have also been requests from the American side.”

Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials had previously suggested that Kyiv could share expertise with Middle East countries if they could help persuade Russia to observe a ceasefire in the four-year-old war pitting Kyiv against Moscow.

The Russian army has experienced its slowest advance on the war frontline in almost two years, according to analysis from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Ukrainian forces achieved several localised breakthroughs, particularly along the southern frontline and by pushing back Russian troops in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Despite the slowdown, Moscow continues to advance in the east, moving closer to the key hubs of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and currently occupies over 19 per cent of Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian troops made significant territorial gains during February, including 61 square kilometres on 15 February and more than 50 square kilometres on both 21 February and 23 February.

These Ukrainian advances coincided with a slowdown in Russian troop movements at the frontline, which occurred after Elon Musk reportedly cut Starlink access for Moscow’s forces.

The escalating conflict in Iran is inadvertently bolstering Russia’s financial capacity, strengthening its ability to fund its ongoing war in Ukraine through increased energy profits.

Prices for Russian oil exports have surged from under $40 per barrel as recently as December to approximately $62 per barrel.

While Russian crude continues to trade at a notable discount compared to international benchmark Brent crude, which has climbed above $82 from its pre-attack price of $72.87, its current price now surpasses the $59 per barrel benchmark assumed in the Russian Finance Ministry’s 2026 budget plan.

The ongoing military conflict between the US and Iran has paused the trilateral peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“We continue to engage with the United States practically on a daily basis. For now, because of the situation with Iran, the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting haven’t come yet,” he said in an evening address.

“As soon as the security situation and the broader political context allow us to resume the trilateral diplomatic work, it will be done. Ukraine is ready for it,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine could face a critical shortage of US air defence missiles with the US focusing on its military assault on Iran, experts have said.

Iran has retaliated to the US killing of its supreme leader with a major offensive by firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Gulf nations.

The joint forces in the Gulf nations have intercepted these incoming projectiles with US’s Patriot missile interceptors. The anti-missile defence systems have proven critical for Ukraine as well to fight off Russian missiles targeting its energy and military infrastructure.

Serhii Kuzan, head of the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center think tank, says that the roughly 600 PAC-3s produced yearly by Lockheed Martin are already insufficient to cover US needs and those of its allies in the Gulf, let alone Ukraine’s.

“It’s the very simple mathematics of war,” Kuzan told the Japan Times.

The stockpiling of Patriots by Gulf states meant they were unlikely to run out completely, said Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at Oslo Universtiy.

This is particularly the case at a time the intensity of Iranian missile bombardments appeared to be decreasing, but they might need to become more selective in their use as time goes on, he said.

A Russian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied natural gas exploded and erupted in flames before sinking in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, authorities in the North African country said Wednesday. Russia claimed that an attack by Ukrainian sea drones was to blame.

The Libyan Maritime Authority reported “sudden explosions, followed by a massive fire” on the Arctic Metagaz on Tuesday, when it was about 240km (150 miles) off the city of Sirte.

The tanker, carrying 61,000 tonnes of LNG, “completely sank” between Libya and Malta, a statement said. All 30 crew members were rescued and put on another vessel heading to the Libyan city of Benghazi, it said.

Russia’s transport ministry said the vessel was hit by Ukrainian sea drones launched from the Libyan coast. Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday evening called what happened to the tanker “a terrorist attack” that “exacerbates the situation on global energy markets, including gas markets”.

Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the accusation.

Previous Ukrainian attacks on Russian ships have reportedly come from the Libyan coast, though Kyiv officials haven’t publicly confirmed those reports.

Russia could halt gas supplies to Europe right now amid a spike ‌in energy prices triggered by the Iran crisis, Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday.

The Russian president was linking the possible decision to the European Union wanting to ban purchases of Russian gas and liquefied natural gas.

Oil and gas prices have soared following the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s strikes on Gulf Arab neighbours. The conflict has paralysed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz ​and forced the shutdown of Qatar’s LNG production and Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery.

Putin said oil prices were rising due to the “aggression against Iran” and due ​to Western restrictions on Russian oil, while European gas prices were rising because customers were willing to buy gas volumes at higher prices ⁠due to events in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Asked by a Russian state television correspondent ​about European plans to completely ban Russian pipeline gas imports by late 2027 as well as new short-term Russian LNG contracts from ​late April 2026, Putin said it might be more beneficial for Russia to stop selling the gas right now.

“Now other markets are opening up. And perhaps it would be more profitable for us to stop supplying the European market right now. To move into those markets that are opening up and establish ourselves there,” Putin said, according to ​a transcript released by the Kremlin.

“This is not a decision, it is, in this case, what is called thinking out loud. I will definitely instruct ​the government to work on this issue together with our companies,” Putin said, linking the possible decision directly to Europe’s “misguided policies”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the Middle East conflict on Wednesday with the king of Bahrain and the crown prince of Kuwait.

Zelensky said that his administration was in daily contact with the US and once the security situation around Iran permitted it, trilateral talks with Moscow and Washington on a settlement of the war with Moscow would resume.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky said talks about Iran included leaders of Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Ukraine’s partners, including the US, had sought Kyiv’s help in defending against Iranian drones, like those used by Russia in the four-year-old war with Ukraine.

“Partners are turning to us, to Ukraine, asking for help in defending against shaheds. There have also been requests from the American side,” he said.