MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. Ukraine is losing to Israel in the competition both for US attention and for Patriot missiles amid developments in the Middle East, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told TASS in an interview.

"The countries that were supplying weapons say: 'Sorry, we have other priorities. So, please, move to the end of the line. You’ll be waiting for Patriot missiles for the next several years. Right now they’re needed in the Middle East and needed by us directly.' In the competition for the attention of the United States, Israel is clearly winning, not Ukraine," the diplomat said.

He noted that since the beginning of the crisis in the Middle East, Vladimir Zelensky has been calling Arab leaders, "trying to stay on the agenda."

"Zelensky is trying to attach himself to the unfolding tragedy. He is trying to be next to them, trying to say: ‘I’m here too, don’t forget about me.’ He understands perfectly well what’s at stake for him. As soon as the public attention disappears, for example, the countries that had been debating whether to admit Ukraine to the EU, when and under what standards, put it into cold storage," Miroshnik added.