WorldPosted at: Oct 20 2026 10:21PM


US State Secretary Marco Rubio tells Zelensky Trump hasn’t ordered any measures harmful to Ukraine

Washington, Oct 20 (UNI) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that President Donald Trump had not ordered any measures intended to harm Ukraine, as Washington sought to prevent tensions between the two allies from escalating.
The 45-minute phone call came hours before a new round of peace talks involving White House envoy Steve Witkoff, aimed at agreeing on a common position with European allies on an updated proposal to present to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The crisis began 10 days ago when Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia while his envoys were negotiating with Ukrainian officials in Miami. Zelensky on Monday urged a bipartisan group of US senators to press the administration to lift what he described as restrictions on intelligence sharing and weapons supplies.
Rubio told reporters that he had clarified to Zelensky that the Pentagon had made no changes to intelligence sharing, weapons sales or restrictions on Ukraine’s use of the Starshield satellite system.
“No change was ordered. It is not true that we restricted it,” Rubio said.
He acknowledged that the delivery of Patriot missile interceptors already paid for by NATO countries could be delayed, explaining that Washington needed to ensure it had sufficient supplies to protect US military bases around the world.
“Nothing is being deliberately denied. We balance between our obligations to partners and our own needs,” he said. “There hasn’t been a deliberate political directive to harm Ukraine.”
Rubio also said instances in which Ukraine had not received advance warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks were caused by technical failures, rather than a US order.
“No doubt there are tensions,” Rubio said, adding that Trump was “angry and frustrated” by the lack of progress in peace negotiations after two years of efforts. The president, he said, was responding to suggestions that he was deliberately harming Ukraine, which Rubio described as “not fair and not true”.
Zelensky said on X after the call that he was “grateful” for Rubio’s “readiness to help and his clear position”.
He stressed that Ukraine needed ballistic missile interceptors and early warnings to protect its citizens, adding that “the situation with Starlink and Starshield needs to be restored”.
Witkoff arrived in Oslo on Tuesday for talks with Zelensky and European leaders, including Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, representatives of the E4 nations — the UK, France, Germany and Poland — and officials from the European union and NATO.
Witkoff is then expected to travel to Russia to meet Putin and present proposals developed in consultation with Ukrainian and European leaders.
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