Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that the ongoing war involving Iran has shifted global focus away from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it a "big risk" to assume that peace efforts in Kyiv can wait until the Iran conflict is resolved. Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour from his presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky said technical talks with the United States were continuing but that high-level meetings had stalled. "I don't see the opportunity to meet … until the question, the case of Iran will be closed," he said. Zelensky identified as a "challenge" the fact tha

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that the ongoing war involving Iran has shifted global focus away from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it a "big risk" to assume that peace efforts in Kyiv can wait until the Iran conflict is resolved.

Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour from his presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky said technical talks with the United States were continuing but that high-level meetings had stalled. "I don't see the opportunity to meet … until the question, the case of Iran will be closed," he said.

Zelensky identified as a "challenge" the fact that the same U.S. negotiating team, led by envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, is handling diplomacy for both the Iran and Ukraine conflicts simultaneously.

He warned that Ukraine could not be treated as a secondary priority. "We will speak about this a little bit later, Ukraine is not 'a little bit later,'" Zelensky said. "Ukraine is already in such a big tragedy, we have to find a way to manage this in a parallel way."

The Ukrainian president also said the Iran war had disrupted weapons supplies to Ukraine, particularly anti-ballistic missiles, citing limited U.S. production capacity and competing global demand.

Zelensky's remarks came hours after EU ambassadors gave final approval to begin disbursement of a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, a package agreed upon in December 2025 but held up over Hungary's demands that Ukraine resume the flow of Russian oil into Europe. Oil transit via the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline resumed Wednesday, clearing the last obstacle to disbursement.

Zelensky told CNN the funds were critical to Ukraine's war effort, saying the country was currently producing roughly 1,000 drone interceptors per day despite having capacity for 2,000. "We don't have the funding. It's really a question of our life, of surviving," he said.

A little more informed. A little more connected.