Zelenskyy courts Saudi support as U.S. reportedly weighs redirecting Ukraine aid to Middle East

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday kicked off a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia, seeking support for Kyiv as the U.S. reportedly weighs shifting military resources to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran.

Zelenskyy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah to discuss the escalating military tensions in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader said he expected to hold "important meetings" during this trip, as Kyiv offered its air-defense expertise and drone technology to countries in the region reeling from the Iranian strikes.

More than 200 Ukrainian experts have been dispatched to advise Middle East countries on how to intercept attacks that have wreaked havoc on energy infrastructure across the region.

Zelenskyy is hoping to draw support from the Gulf nations in Kyiv's war against Russia, which is now in its fifth year and Western military aid faces new uncertainty.

Iran's Shahed-136 'kamikaze' drone has become a fixture of modern warfare, with Moscow utilizing the technology in its years-long invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine has found some success in downing drones with fighter jet cannon fire and recently pioneered the development of cheaper mass-produced interceptors.

In an earlier speech to the U.K. parliament on March 17, Zelenskyy sought to draw parallels between the Iran War and Kyiv's battle with Russia.

"If, together with partners in the Middle East, we build a [military] system like Ukraine's, they will be able to track attacks from Iran or the Houthis in real time, analyze them, keep improving their defense – giving people, critical infrastructure, and trade routes real security," he said.

Zelenskyy's trip comes as the Pentagon was weighing redirecting the equipment and weapons intended for Ukraine to the Middle East, according to The Washington Post, as the conflict with Iran strains existing American munitions stockpiles.

The Trump administration was also considering sending another 10,000 troops to the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, adding to the buildup of roughly 5,000 Marines and thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division in the region.

The growing U.S. military presence in the Middle East has fueled concerns about a ground attack against Iran, even as both sides held on to contradictory signals on potential peace talks. Trump on Thursday insisted that the negotiations were going well, while Tehran has denied any direct talks with the U.S.

"All announcements regarding troop deployments will come from the Department of War. As we have said, President Trump always has all military options at his disposal," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNBC in an emailed statement.

Ukraine is also facing renewed Russian offensives as U.S.-backed peace talks stalled, while struggling to secure fresh commitments from NATO allies to replenish stocks of American-made air defense interceptors capable of countering high-speed Russian ballistic missiles.

A critical €90 billion ($104 billion) European Union loan package for Ukraine has also been thrown into question after Hungary vetoed the financial aid.

Military experts said the scale of additional troop deployments to the region appeared consistent with plans for discrete, time-limited operations rather than a sustained ground campaign.

Former Assistant Secretary of State Mark Kimmitt said Friday that the number of American troops being mobilized to the region so far pointed to targeted missions rather than a broader land war.

"There may be a specific operation that [Trump] has in mind, but unless you're going to be bringing in some very, very light units, this is going to take a significant period of time before we get those troops on the ground," the retired brigadier general told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Friday.

A direct ground assault on Tehran would require a minimum of two to three divisions, he said — a scale of force that is neither in current planning nor one the American public would tolerate.

The more plausible scenario, he suggested, was targeted high-risk missions: a paratroop insertion onto Kharg Island, the hub for the vast majority of Iran's crude exports, or a Marine landing along the coast to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz.

"There are lots of different small-scale tactical operations that could be conducted — but nothing of the strategic importance or operational scale that would indicate a ground invasion," Kimmitt said.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis estimated Thursday that only 4,000 to 5,000 "trigger pullers" or ground troops were being deployed in the region.

"I have seen no evidence that any kind of force of size has been even considered, much less alerted, prepared, equipped, or trained up that you would need to go. … That takes months of time to do," Davis, a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities, told CNBC on Thursday.

— CNBC's Dylan Butts and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.