Shifting Sands of Fortune: See Ukraine and the Gulf Move Closer

New alliances are formed amid the mayhem of conflict in Europe and the Middle East Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on April 5, 2026 shows Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus. The visit follows Zelensky’s trip to Turkey on April 4 and a Gulf tour the week before against the backdrop of the war in the Middle East, where he sought to clinch security deals and exchange Ukrainian drone expertise for air defence missiles. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google Different perspectives. What we in the West call the Middle East, the Chinese refer to as the Middle West. China may not be the center of the world, but in May, at least to its own people, it will be portrayed as the center of gravity for global affairs. That month will see not one but two world leaders scheduled to enjoy the charms of Chinese hospitality, as small glasses of the fiery liquid baijou are consumed during lavish official dinner ceremonies. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . In the Chinese capital they are getting ready for the double-header, with Russian president Vladimir Putin set to visit hot on the heels of US president Donald Trump. Putin’s visit was arranged in February, Trump’s was rearranged due to events in the Middle East, highlighting China’s growing international clout. For both visiting leaders, sweet and sour may be on the menu. China has leapfrogged Russia in terms of its economy and influence. Putin, of course, will get a polite, even warm, welcome but he will be in no doubt about who has the upper hand. In relations with Beijing, the US remains the pre-eminent power, but the tide of history, and they know a thing or two in China about the unpredictable ebb and flow of events, nonetheless seems to favor the view that this century will be China’s. At least that’s the way it is viewed in Beijing. China, even allowing for the potential risk of future conflict, presents an alluring financial opportunity, at least the illusion of one. The future may be in the East, but the past has a habit of catching up with you. Europe, rightly, feels threatened by Russia. China, which nearly went to war with Russia in 1969, now views it almost as a vassal state, at least in terms of declining economic prowess, a trend that was obvious long before Western-imposed sanctions. Wars are costly, and the Americans’ pockets are not as deep as they once were. Lest we forget, Ukraine is fighting a just war, taking up arms against an invader. But this does not guarantee support. The US State Department has told allies that deliveries of munitions for Ukraine, including Patriot air defense interceptors, may be hampered, European officials said. The US national debt is about $36 trillion. The Iran war has cost it, at a very conservative figure, at least $11 billion to date as it enters its second month. Trump’s dismissal of Ukraine, and of Europe, is more than just the ill-disciplined mutterings of a man who pays little attention to history or statecraft. And this is the problem for Ukraine and Europe in general. Budget concerns are hampering US foreign policy. Put simply, cash may be king, but unsteady is the crown on the greenback’s head. The bottom dollar is that Washington has to be careful about, well, the dollar. Washington’s foreign policy boffins place Ukraine in a lower category to China ties. Ukraine, and Iran, for that matter, are costing it money. There are fears that even the Prioritized Ukraine List, a mechanism that allows European countries to pay for US weapons on behalf of Ukraine, may be scrapped. Trump’s threat to ditch weapon supplies to Ukraine if European allies did not help reopen the Hormuz Strait did little to enhance America’s global standing. Russia and the US are both weakened, one militarily, the other reputationally, with China the strategic beneficiary. Ukraine’s standing too has been bolstered. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent visit to the Middle East has helped frame a single narrative for the two conflicts by inking deals to provide drone and anti-drone technology and training to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf rulers realize they need to rely on themselves rather than totally depend on US firepower for their defense. In this sense, Ukraine is a perfect ally as it is leading from experience. Events in the historic cities and lush greenery of Ukraine are now linked to the glass and steel of modern metropolises and burning desert of the Middle East. One theater of war provides lessons for the other. The Gulf can now clearly be considered allies of Ukraine, making nonsense of Trump’s repeated utterance that Kyiv has “no cards” in its conflict with Russia. Morality, by the way, is a strong card in any hand. One concrete outcome of this new situation is that the Gulf can supply a stream of finance for Ukraine’s arms industry, at a time when €90 billion ($115 billion) in EU funding has been, at least for the time being, blocked by Hungary. At the onset of the US and Israeli attack on Iran, no one predicted that it could be anything other than bleak for Ukraine. The views expressed here are the author’s and not necessarily that of Kyiv Post. Tom Clifford is a veteran Irish journalist who has worked in the Far East.