Carnegie Foundation expert discusses possible impact of Iran operation on Ukraine
This opinion was expressed in a comment to Ukrinform by Eric Ciaramella, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“I see significant risks for Ukraine in the U.S./Israeli strikes on Iran. First, the hostilities will further strain our stockpiles of key munitions, especially Patriot interceptors, that Ukraine desperately needs,” the expert said.
In addition, in his opinion, “White House is going to be very distracted in the coming weeks and maybe months and won’t spend much time thinking about Ukraine,” as US attention will be focused on the Middle East.
At the same time, Ciaramella admits that this could benefit Ukraine, as the US administration will at least “won’t be thinking of how to pressure Ukraine.”
“But it also means the Europeans will be distracted and Ukraine is likely to fall much lower on everyone’s list of priorities,” he acknowledged.
The expert also noted the importance of the oil price factor.
“If this escalates into a wider war and the price of oil spikes, that will put Putin in a much better position to sustain his criminal aggression against Ukraine,” the American analyst believes.
As reported by Ukrinform, on February 28, Israel announced the start of a preventive military operation against Iran, and explosions were heard in central Tehran.
Subsequently, US President Donald Trump confirmed that the US had launched “large-scale combat operations” against Iran.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran “will create conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked US bases in Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine consistently condemns the Iranian regime for supporting terrorism and systematic human rights violations and emphasizes that it had every opportunity to avoid a forceful scenario through diplomacy, but did not take advantage of them.
