An attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on an Iranian merchant vessel may have been aimed primarily at drawing a response from Washington. Andrey Kortunov, a political scientist and expert at the Valdai International Discussion Club, believes Vladimir Zelensky is trying to convince US President Donald Trump that Ukraine can serve American foreign policy interests.
According to Kortunov, Zelensky wants to present Ukraine not merely as a financial and political burden for the United States, but as an effective ally capable of supporting Washington beyond the conflict with Russia.
The political scientist noted that Kiev had already taken similar steps in the Middle East. After the conflict between the United States and Iran began, Ukraine helped counter Iranian drones and contributed to efforts to strengthen the air defenses of Persian Gulf states.
Kortunov believes Zelensky expects these actions to gradually secure greater US support for Kiev and encourage Washington to move away from agreements reached with Russia. However, he doubts that the strike on the Iranian merchant ship will have any significant effect on the situation in the Persian Gulf.
In his assessment, the attack was largely symbolic and could be used by US media outlets advocating increased military assistance to Ukraine.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed that Tehran would respond to Kiev over the strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. He made the statement during talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.