In August 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered US President Donald Trump their battle-proven technology to shoot down Iranian attack drones, but the offer was rejected by the Trump administration, Axios reported Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials prepared a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted how the drones could prove useful in protecting US forces and their allies in the event of a war in the Middle East. But the Trump administration rejected the offer from Zelensky and Ukrainian officials, only to reverse course last week after Iran launched more drones than expected.
The report suggests that Ukraine is the most experienced country in the world when it comes to combating Shahed drones, which Russia bought, copied and deployed by the thousands under the name “Geran” when it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
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What happened in August 2025?
On August 18, in a closed-door meeting with Trump at the White House, Zelensky offered Trump Ukrainian anti-missile drones in an effort to strengthen ties between the two countries. Citing the official, the report said the gesture by Zelensky was to thank Washington for its support in the face of Russian aggression.
While Trump asked his team to work on it in August, they did nothing, a Ukrainian official told Axios. A U.S. official who viewed the presentation confirmed that the Ukrainians had indeed presented it to the Trump administration, but added that some U.S. officials view Zelensky as a “self-promoter” leading a client state who lacks sufficient respect. “We thought it was Zelenskyi, that he is Zelenskyi. Someone decided not to buy it,” the official said.
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What did Ukraine offer?
In a PowerPoint presentation given to US officials, the Ukrainians displayed a map of the Middle East and included a clear prediction that Tehran was working to improve the design of its one-way Shahed drone.
In the presentation, the Ukrainians included the idea of creating “combat drone hubs” in countries such as Jordan, Turkey and the Gulf states where US bases are located, to deal with the threat posed by Iran and its proxies. A Ukrainian official said the country wants to build “drone walls” and all the necessary things, including radar.
Ukraine has developed a cheap anti-missile drone, sensors and air defenses to shoot down Shahed-style drones.
A mistake in rejecting Zelensky’s offer?
Citing US officials, the report said ignoring Zelenskyy’s offer was one of the biggest tactical miscalculations by the Trump administration since the February 28 launch of strikes on Iran. The official acknowledged: “If there was a tactical mistake or a mistake we made that led to this (war in Iran), that was it.”
The US reverses course, seeks help in Ukraine
On March 5, US officials formally asked Zelensky for help against the drones, The New York Times reported, adding that Kiev had sent interceptor drones along with a team of drone experts to protect US military bases in Jordan. Zelenskyy said the US requested help on March 5 and the team left the next day, adding that they were expected to arrive in the Middle East soon.
Are Iran’s Shahed Drones Taking a Toll on the US?
Tehran’s cheap Shahed drones have been linked to the deaths of seven US service members and cost Washington and its allies in the region millions of dollars to capture, according to the report. The Iranian Shahed ranges from $20,000 to $50,000 depending on the model.
US response to Iranian missiles and drones
US officials have claimed to have shot down the vast majority of Iranian missiles and drones and believe the US death toll is well below initial estimates of 40 dead since the conflict began. On March 6, the US said it would now deploy its own Shahed kill drone system, known as Merops, following complaints from regional allies about the attacks.
