Zelensky Urges Hard Line From the West to Combat Russian 'Terror'

In the name of thwarting "terror," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed leaders of Western allies to enact the "same level of protection" against Russia's air raids as they did while defending Israel from Iran's drone attack over the weekend.

Washington, D.C., mobilized aircraft and missile defenses to assist Israel in what President Joe Biden called "an unprecedented air attack" launched by Iran on Saturday. The bombardment follows an Israeli strike on Iran's embassy complex in Syria earlier this month, which killed seven Iranian military personnel.

Biden said that steps were taken "at my direction" by the U.S. military to "support the defense of Israel," which came under fire by more than 300 Iranian munitions in the attack. The majority of the missiles were believed to have been fired from within Iranian territory and were intercepted before entering Israel.

The U.K.'s Ministry of Defense announced that Royal Air Force fighter jets and air refueling tankers were also sent to the region to help defend Israel. Jordan's government on Sunday announced that its military shot down missiles that had entered its airspace, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that France's military helped monitor the barrage.

During his nightly address Monday, Zelensky said the "entire world witnessed allied action in the skies above Israel and neighboring countries," adding that "together, they prevented terror from prevailing."

"Israel is not a NATO member, so no action, such as triggering Article 5, was required," he noted, referring to the part of the Western bloc's treaty that states any armed attack against a member nation "shall be considered an attack against them all."

"And no one was dragged into the war. They simply contributed to the protection of human life," Zelensky said.

Western governments have stood beside Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, providing artillery, training and other assistance to boost Kyiv's defense capabilities. But Ukraine's allies have stopped short of sending their own troops to operate in Eastern Europe in any capacity, a move that the Kremlin has said would lead to a direct conflict between Moscow and NATO.

Zelensky on Monday said that the Iranian-made "Shaheds" drones being launched by Russia "in the skies above Ukraine sound identical to those over the Middle East. The impact of ballistic missiles, if they are not intercepted, is the same everywhere."

"European skies could have received the same level of protection long ago if Ukraine had received similar full support from its partners in intercepting drones and missiles," he added. "Terror must be defeated completely and everywhere, not more in some places and less in others."

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during an appearance on LBC radio Monday that deploying Western jets to Ukraine would lead to "dangerous escalation" with Russia.

"We've done more than any other country individually to help the Ukrainians," Cameron told the station. "We've trained over 60,000 Ukrainian troops, we were the first to give them anti-tank weapons, long-range artillery and tanks."

He added, however, that "if you want to avoid an escalation in terms of a wider European war, I think the one thing you do need to avoid is NATO troops directly engaging Russian troops. That would be a dangerous escalation."

When reached for comment, the U.S. State Department directed Newsweek to comments made by White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby during a press briefing on Monday, when he fielded questions on why Washington was not helping Ukraine "shoot down" drones like it did for Israel.

"Different conflicts, different airspace, different threat picture," Kirby told reporters. "And [President Joe Biden] has been clear since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the United States is not going to be involved in that conflict in a combat role. And we haven't."

"We have been providing Ukraine the tools that they need to help defend their airspace," he added. "And, unfortunately, we can't do that right now because we don't have that national security supplemental funding that they so desperately need."

Update 04/16/24, 9:55 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional comment from the U.S. State Department.