Trump isn't out to hurt Ukraine, Rubio tells Zelensky
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call Tuesday that President Trump hasn't issued any kind of order to harm Ukraine.
Why it matters: The call was an effort to prevent the crisis between the U.S. and Ukraine from escalating further — and to push back on Ukrainian accusations that Trump is trying to coerce Zelensky into making concessions to Russia.
The 45-minute call took place several hours ahead of a new round of peace talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff aimed at reaching a unified position with European allies on an updated peace proposal to present to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Driving the news: The crisis broke out 10 days ago when Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia at the same time his envoys were in negotiations with Ukrainian officials in Miami.
Zelensky on Monday lobbied a bipartisan group of senators to press the Trump administration to remove what he says are restrictions on intelligence sharing and weapons supplies.
Behind the scenes: Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that he clarified to Zelensky that the Pentagon hasn't changed anything when it comes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, weapons sales or restrictions on the use of the Starshield satellite system.
"No change was ordered.
It is not true that we restricted it," Rubio said.
Rubio acknowledged to Zelensky that there could be a delay in sending Patriot interceptors that have already been paid for by NATO countries.
But the reason, he said, is that the U.S. needs to make sure it has enough to protect its own 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 asserted that the several cases in which Ukraine didn't get advance warning of Russian ballistic missile attacks were a result of technical failures, not a U.S. order.
What he's saying: "No doubt there are tensions," he said.
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