Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that US and Israeli strikes on Iran have created an opportunity for the Iranian people to oust the “terrorist regime” in Tehran, Russia’s ally.

Ukraine, fighting off Russia’s full-scale invasion since 2022, has repeatedly accused Iran of providing Moscow with weapons — including the Shahed drones and short-range missiles — for its offensive.

“It is only fair to give the Iranian people a chance to get rid of the terrorist regime, to get rid of it and guarantee the safety of all nations that have suffered from terror originating in Iran,” Zelensky said in a video address on social media, in Ukrainian but with English subtitles.

Ukraine’s position, he said, is that “it is important to preserve as many lives as possible. It is important to prevent the war from expanding.”

“It is important that the United States is determined. And whenever America is determined, global criminals weaken,” Zelensky added.

He recalled that Russia has used “more than 57,000 Shahed-type strike drones against Ukraine — against our people, against our cities, against our energy sector.”

“Although Ukrainians have never threatened Iran, the Iranian regime chose to be Putin’s accomplice,” Zelensky said.

Today has been packed with international work. Rustem Umerov has already delivered a briefing following this week’s meetings with envoys of President Trump. We discussed the main outcomes of the Geneva meetings – mostly on economic matters and reconstruction – and we are… pic.twitter.com/JnatwDBzs4 Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#336x280_Middle_1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: '336x280_Middle_1', baseDivId: '336x280_Middle_1', } ]); }); } — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 28, 2026

Today has been packed with international work. Rustem Umerov has already delivered a briefing following this week’s meetings with envoys of President Trump. We discussed the main outcomes of the Geneva meetings – mostly on economic matters and reconstruction – and we are… pic.twitter.com/JnatwDBzs4

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 28, 2026

The Ukrainian leader also published a transcript of his remarks in Farsi.

Earlier on Saturday, Kyiv said the Iranian government’s “violence against its own people and other countries” had triggered the US and Israeli attacks.

“The reason for the current events is precisely the violence and arbitrariness of the Iranian regime, in particular the murders and repressions against peaceful protesters, which have become particularly large-scale in recent months,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The start of the major US-Israeli assault on Iran has created uncertainty for Ukraine, which had been expecting to hold a new round of peace talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi in the coming weeks.

Abu Dhabi was targeted by Iran on Saturday in retaliatory attacks, and at least one foreign worker was killed in a missile strike on the Emirati capital.

The next round of talks, Zelensky said, would now depend on the security situation in the Middle East and the level of “real diplomatic possibilities.”

He said he would issue fresh directives to Ukraine’s negotiating team at the talks, without detailing what they were.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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