Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected claims of an intelligence-sharing pause with Ukraine during remarks made on Monday while visiting Uzbekistan. His comments responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement that the United States had resumed providing critical intelligence assistance following a temporary interruption in the flow of information.
Zelenskyy had indicated during a Sunday television interview that intelligence-sharing through Starshield—the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service—had been temporarily halted before being restored. Ukrainian officials noted that the interruption led to Russian missile strikes occurring without advance warning. Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for the resumption of intelligence support, calling it essential for Ukraine’s defensive capabilities against Russian ballistic missiles.
The dispute over intelligence-sharing occurred amid broader disagreements between Washington and Kyiv over US policy toward Russia. Zelenskyy criticized recent Trump administration actions, including a deal to import Russian diesel and the waiver of sanctions on Russia scheduled to take effect this week, characterizing these steps as harmful to Ukraine’s position. Trump defended the sanctions relief as necessary to maintain Russian engagement in peace negotiations and accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the conflict.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent disputed Zelenskyy’s characterization of the situation, stating that any war resolution would require negotiated settlement rather than Ukrainian military victory. Bessent also rejected allegations that the Trump administration had deliberately slowed satellite communications, calling such claims reckless. Trump indicated ongoing discussions about a potential three-way meeting between himself, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the conflict, though details remained unconfirmed.
In the meantime, Russian military operations continued, with a missile strike on Kyiv reported on Monday that killed a woman, wounded several people, and damaged infrastructure including a metro station and medical facility, according to city officials.
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