Ukraine is increasingly playing the role of global security provider — rather than recipient — as US allies question the extent of Washington’s security guarantees, experts said.

Kyiv has become an arms powerhouse by building up its drone capabilities and bolstering defense partnerships that give it additional geopolitical leverage, an analyst argued in Persuasion.

A New York Times columnist called Ukraine the new “leader of the free world.”

While the Middle East conflict has established Ukraine as a military provider to Gulf states, it has compounded European anxiety over the US: Washington reportedly warned the UK, Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia to expect delays of US weapons shipments because of depleted stockpiles from the Iran war.