The political scientist predicted problems with the supply of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to the conflict in Iran

The military operation launched by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran may negatively affect the supply of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), whose ranks already have a need for ammunition for anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM). Political analyst Bogdan Bezpalko told Izvestia about this on March 12.

"[The escalation in the Middle East will have a negative impact on supplies], because ammunition for air defense systems is in high demand right now. They are quite expensive and take a long time to produce. And they are being spent very, very quickly now," he said.

The expert, commenting on the words of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about providing Ukraine with 30 more PAC-3 missiles for the American Patriot air defense system, said that this equipment, in his opinion, would only last for two weeks. He stressed that due to what is happening around Iran, financial assistance from the European Union (EU) could theoretically be cut to this country.

"A package of €90 billion has already been formed there. The fact is that now it may simply not be provided. <...> And, accordingly, under certain circumstances, this package may simply not be implemented. <...> Ukraine is on external donor assistance. It has a budget deficit of about €50 billion," Bezpalko concluded.

If the funds do not flow to Kiev, Ukraine, as the expert suggested, "will crumble like a mechanism." The interlocutor of Izvestia clarified that the attention of Western countries will certainly switch from Ukraine to the states of the Middle East, on which, in particular, oil supplies and global inflation depend.

It only gets worse: the United States is talking about a ground operation in Iran

According to experts, a full-fledged invasion will require at least 500,000 soldiers.

On the same day, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky complained about the shortage of PAC-2 and PAC-3 anti-aircraft missiles for Patriot systems in his Armed Forces. He attributed the revealed fact to the escalation in the Middle East. The Ukrainian leader expressed the hope that Kiev would be able to sign a major deal for the supply of drones with American manufacturers, which requires Washington's permission.

Two days earlier, State Duma deputy Alexei Chepa pointed to the space for progress in the negotiations on Ukraine. According to him, the conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran deprives the Armed Forces of some resources, as American suppliers are more focused on the new conflict.

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