Under the pressure of Russian attacks. Zelensky asks Trump for Patriot missiles

As the Ukraine-Russia war enters its fifth year of protracted bloody fighting, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv has faced one of the fiercest and fiercest joint attacks with ballistic missiles and drones, leaving widespread destruction and forcing the Ukrainian presidency to move diplomatically and militarily within critical meters and according to an official document seen by AFP.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent a private and direct message to US President Donald Trump and members of Congress, urging him to urgently provide his country with additional air defense systems and advanced Patriot PAC-3 missiles to counter Russia's growing ballistic arsenal.

The Gulf Crisis and its Direct Impact on the Ukraine Front

Zelenskyy's request comes amid a current situation that he described as "calling for swift and effective action," coinciding with growing international attention to the war with Iran in the Middle East.

A senior Ukrainian presidential official acknowledged that the war in the Middle East has led to Washington's allies using huge and massive quantities of advanced air defense munitions to protect vital sites and military bases in the Gulf region, exacerbating and deepening the severe munitions shortage crisis that Kyiv is facing, and causing a slowdown in military supplies through the European "PURL" mechanism dedicated to the purchase of U.S. weapons on behalf of Ukraine.

Although Ukraine's significant successes in the long-range drone war have attracted the attention of wealthy Gulf states that want to take advantage of Kyiv's expertise to counter similar Iranian drones, Zelensky clearly linked the military and diplomatic tracks, sticking to an equation: "The sooner we strengthen protection against Russian ballistic missiles, the better the chances of success of the diplomatic track to end the war, because Moscow's talk of peace lacks seriousness in light of its reliance on missile policy."

Counterstrikes Deep in Russia and the "Urishnik" missile

In the face of this week's heavy Russian bombardment, in which Moscow used the new medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile, which flies at 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Zelensky officially announced plans to carry additional and qualitative counterstrikes deep inside Russian territory following extensive talks with Ukraine's military leadership.

The main target of these attacks will remain Russian oil industry facilities to reduce energy revenues that fund Russia's war economy and send a clear message that "Moscow must pay the price for the war from its own losses," he said.

Moscow has justified its recent sweeping attacks as a direct response to a Ukrainian drone attack on a student dormitory in the Starobelsk region of occupied Luhansk, killing 21 people, according  to Moscow.

This was followed by explicit and unprecedented threats of systematic destructive strikes targeting "decision-making centers" in Kiev, and a call for foreign diplomats to leave the capital immediately, prompting European countries such as Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and the European Union to recall Russian ambassadors in protest against this horrific escalation.

Washington on the mediation line: The war is longer than World War II

Amid this military alert and hypersonic missile splashes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington is still fully prepared to play the role of mediator to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Rubio's offer followed a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Rubio told reporters during his current official visit to India, "Every time you see these major strikes from either side, it reminds us why this war is horrific and tragic. This war is longer than the Second World War, and it is time for it to end." Rubio's remarks reflect the new Trump administration's desire to push to the negotiating table to end the conflict, as the Ukrainian and Russian sides seek to expand their gains on the ground and impose their fiery terms before the start of any upcoming U.S.-sponsored political process.