Zelensky claims Russia tried to blackmail the U.S. over intelligence sharing with Iran, and the alleged deal he described is brazen

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Russia tried to blackmail the United States. According to Zelensky, Moscow offered to stop sharing military intelligence with Iran if Washington, in return, would cut off intelligence data to Kyiv.

Zelensky said he had seen intelligence reports detailing this offer. He did not provide specifics on who Russia addressed this to, but he was clear about what he thought it meant. “I have reports from our intelligence services showing that Russia is doing this and saying: ‘I will not pass on intelligence to Iran if America stops passing intelligence to Ukraine.’ Isn’t that blackmail? Absolutely,” Zelensky said.

According to The Financial Times, this alleged blackmail comes amid reports that Russia is preparing to ship combat drones, medicine, and food to Iran. Western intelligence reports suggest that Moscow and Tehran have been holding secret talks about drone supplies since the war began a month ago.

Russia’s denial rings hollow as drone shipment reports and secret talks with Iran surface

Zelensky has previously presented evidence of Russia feeding Iran crucial intel, raising further concerns about the depth of this military cooperation. These drones would mark the first potentially lethal aid supplied by Moscow, and would likely include models such as the Geran-2 and the Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drone.

Publicly, Russia has denied helping Iran militarily in its conflict with the US and Israel. Washington confirmed it received a similar denial from Moscow earlier this month. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, neither confirmed nor denied the latest reports. “There are a lot of fakes going around right now,” Peskov said. “One thing is true, we are continuing our dialogue with the Iranian leadership.”

Russia has publicly emphasized humanitarian aid, saying it has sent over 13 tons of medicine to Tehran via Azerbaijan. The two nations agreed to a strategic partnership last year, though it did not include a mutual defense commitment.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, firmly denied any peace talks with the US in an interview with Iranian state TV. Iran’s state television, Press TV, quoted an anonymous official who rejected a US ceasefire proposal, saying Iran would end the war “when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met,” and would continue its “heavy blows” across the Middle East.

These conditions reportedly include a halt to killings of Iranian officials, assurances against future wars, reparations, an end to hostilities, and Iran’s “exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.” Many of those terms, especially reparations and control over the Strait, would likely be unacceptable to the White House.

Despite Tehran’s denials, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that talks are ongoing. “Talks continue. They are productive, as the president said on Monday, and they continue to be,” Leavitt told a White House briefing. On the battlefield, how Ukraine exploits Russia’s coordination failures shows just how much US intelligence support has mattered to Kyiv’s war effort.