Ukraine Warupdated 1h ago2 min read
Marco Rubio Denies US Paused Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine, Zelenskiy Says It Was Deblocked
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Rubio: there has been no pause in U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Zelenskyy said the US had resumed intelligence sharing after a brief pause.
No Pause, Competing Accounts
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's claims of a pause in intelligence sharing, telling reporters, "There has been no pause." Rubio said he did not know where Zelenskiy was getting the claims from or why he was saying them to the press, adding, "I do not know where he is getting these things from or why he is saying these things to the press."
Zelenskiy, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, said intelligence-sharing had been interrupted but was later "deblocked," and he told the program, "We are very thankful for this." Zelenskiy also said the intelligence channel was not working during the ballistic missile attacks for three days, telling NBC, "We didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days."
Early Warnings and Missile Strikes
Rubio said he could not comment on the latest operations when asked about Ukrainian complaints that Kyiv had received no early warnings before Russian ballistic missiles struck the capital overnight. Rubio said the US European Command had reviewed a technical software glitch affecting early warning systems several days earlier, after Zelenskiy said the transmission channel had been disrupted during Russian ballistic missile attacks before being restored.
In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a Russian missile attack killed a woman and wounded several people in the capital, Kyiv, overnight, and he said the attack damaged a metro station, a medical facility, an educational institution and a nonresidential building. Zelenskiy said the US intelligence was uniquely important because "Only the United States has this unique intelligence to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles," and he said Ukraine "didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days."
Diplomacy, Sanctions, and Risk
Rubio urged Zelenskiy to focus on ending the war, saying, "What [Zelenskyy] should be focused on and what we want to be focused on is bringing an end to this war." Rubio also said there were talks of a meeting involving US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, adding, "I don’t know whether it’s been finalised, but the president [Trump] has been clear."
“What [Zelenskyy] should be focused on and what we want to be focused on is bringing an end to this war.”
Zelenskiy warned that if the United States officially took the side of Russia, Ukraine would not prevail, telling NBC, "If the United States will officially take the side of Russia, of course if these two countries will be together, of course, we will not prevail, and we will not be able to stand,". Zelenskiy said he was grateful intelligence-sharing had resumed, but he also linked other US actions to pressure on Ukraine, including waiving sanctions on Russia that were slated to take effect this week and signing a deal to import Russian diesel.