The war between the United States of America and Iran is having an impact on another war — the conflict between Russia and Ukraine — that seems to have receded from the headlines a bit. Russia has been one of the few direct beneficiaries of the war in the Middle East. The US relaxed sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil already at sea for 30 days, and has since extended that exemption, allowing Moscow to sell its crude at higher prices than at any point since Washington’s restrictions came into effect last year. India, which had started to wind down Russian oil purchases after the US sanctions, has also bought that crude in recent days. Reports also suggest that the delivery of weapons sold by the US to European nations for them to pass onto Ukraine might now be delayed: the Donald Trump administration needs those for its own war on Iran. The Iran crisis has sapped the world’s attention for the best part of almost eight weeks now, hobbling the efforts of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to unite his allies against Russia.

But the Middle East conflict has also brought deeper fissures. Following Europe’s refusal to join Mr Trump’s war on Iran, and the decision by many European nations to not allow American warplanes access to their military bases, the US president has launched a series of verbal and social media attacks on NATO, calling the alliance a "paper tiger" and suggesting that the US might reconsider its membership in the bloc. Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have long counted on the US as a guarantor of their security, have seen that for Washington, Israel’s interests appear to take precedence over their concerns. They were not even consulted before Mr Trump launched the Iran war even though it was evident that Tehran would hit these nations since they host US military bases. Against this backdrop, Ukraine will need to reconsider the value of US security guarantees in any prospective peace deal with Russia. Finally, the unprovoked and illegal war that the US and Israel have waged on Iran also undermines the West’s portrayal of Russia as a uniquely rogue actor when it comes to violating international law. That would suit Moscow, not Kyiv.