In Kyiv, the 12-day war between Iran on one side and Israel, joined by the US, on the other, was watched with anxiety. What if oil prices skyrocketed, showering petrodollars on the Russian military-industrial complex? What if a prolonged air war depleted the US and then Western arsenals of anti-aircraft missiles, which Ukraine already sorely lacks, to the benefit of Israel?

The ceasefire between the parties and Tehran's unfulfilled threat to block the Strait of Hormuz have eased fears of an oil shock benefiting Moscow. But concerns remain in Kyiv over American arsenal eyed by Ukraine. Donald Trump has done little to dispel these worries. Questioned by a Ukrainian journalist on Wednesday, June 25 in The Hague, during a press conference following the NATO summit, the US president, speaking to his worried interlocutor, responded with the wry tone of a merchant holding all the cards: "They [the Ukrainians] do want to have Patriot missile defense systems. We're going to see if we can make some available. You know, they're very hard to get. We need them too. We were supplying them to Israel. They're very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective."

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