Special to WorldTribune.com

Commentary by John J. Metzler, March 31, 2026

As embattled Ukraine faces its fifth Spring of war there’s an unsettling reality that the central European country’s conflict is clearly overshadowed and sadly overlooked since the U.S./Israeli war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Indeed, both the urgency and economic downstream effects of the Iran War, and focusing especially the secure future of the vulnerable Persian Gulf sea lanes, has understandably pushed Ukraine off the headlines but into that terrible limbo of conflict which is so very real but largely forgotten. Ukraine has faced this before when the Russians seized Crimea in 2014 only then to put the conflict on slow-burn until Vladimir’s Putin’s massive invasion in February 2022.

Kyiv and Ukrainian cities have just endured a terrible Winter of Russian drone and missile attacks on energy and electrical facilitates, triggering blackouts. Now that Spring has begun since mid-March the Russians have launched probing attacks along a wide front. Yet the Russian forces have taken high casualties and seized little territory. Losses averaged about 1,000 soldiers daily between March 22 and 28, this owing to better Ukrainian defenses and the poor quality and training of unmotivated Russian conscripts.

The point is that the Ukraine war is anything but over and possibly on the verge of a major Russian military offensive. The difference now is that many American military supplies being sent to Ukraine’s defense, and paid for by European NATO members, are now in shorter supply.

So too is American focus which has abruptly swung to the geostrategic imperative of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil transit route effectively blocked by Iran.

While Washington has prioritized Iran and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, many European countries remain focused on supporting Ukraine. Just before the recent G-7 Foreign Ministers meeting outside Paris, comprising the seven leading industrial democracies including key European states, the USA and Japan, a French Foreign Ministry statement focused on both resolving the Mideast Crisis, and Ukraine.

But contrary to issuing a formal Joint Communique at the end of the confab, the ministers made a short final statement, “We reiterated the absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.” No formal mention of Ukraine.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio weathered some political pushback from the Europeans and Canada but held firm to keep the focus on reopening the petroleum jugular vein of Hormuz.

Yet the Iran war has allowed Russia to tighten its hold on energy markets at the expense of Arab Gulf states, which are unable to export their petroleum products through the Persian Gulf. Some sources cite that Russia could be earning as much as $150 million per day in extra oil revenues.

At least temporarily, Ukraine has lost its once treasured momentum of international civic and governmental support. As significantly, the U.S.-brokered peace talks with Russia to bring about a Ukraine ceasefire seem at a standstill though U.S. negotiators have resumed negotiations with the Russians. Multiple rounds of talks have failed to yield a ceasefire.

Ukraine equally suffers a terrible humanitarian fate. Tom Fletcher, the UN’s Humanitarian chief told the Security Council, “Civilian casualties in Ukraine far exceed levels this time last year. Civilians continue to face waves of drone and missile strikes, destroying homes, schools, and hospitals.” And refugee numbers remain high too with 5.9 million people abroad mostly in Poland and Germany and 3.7 million displaced internally. Top humanitarian donors remain the United States with $156 million and European Commission with $95 million.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the French daily Le Monde, “For a long time, the U.S. was Ukraine’s main donor, then its main supplier of weapons, thanks to financial support from Europeans.” He conceded, but now the Mideast war is “diverting attention,” it is “pushing our priorities into the background.”

At the same time European states are increasingly focused on upgrading and expanding their once dismal defense spending. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated, “In 2025 alone, NATO Allies in Europe and Canada invested a total of $574 billion in defense, a 20 percent increase in real terms compared to 2024.” He added, “This shows that NATO Allies recognize our changed security environment, and the need to meet our collective obligations.”

Ukraine stands at the precipice. But Ukraine’s suffering, and its perilous spring and summer yet to come, must not be overlooked in the midst of the miasma of the Middle East. Both places are important, but neither should suffer to the exclusion of the other.

John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of Divided Dynamism the Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China (2014). [See pre-2011 Archives]

  Ukraine Russia War overshadowed by competing priority: Reopening Strait of Hormuz