- The 45-minute call came hours before 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 erupted 10 days ago when Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia just as his envoys were in negotiations with Ukrainian officials in Miami.
- Zelensky on Monday pressed a bipartisan group of senators to pressure the Trump administration to remove what he sees as restrictions on intelligence sharing and arms supplies.
Behind the scenes: Rubio told reporters Tuesday that he had clarified to Zelensky that the Pentagon had not changed anything regarding intelligence sharing with Ukraine, arms sales or restrictions on use of the Starshield satellite system.
- “No changes have been ordered. It’s not true that we restricted it,” Rubio said.
- Rubio acknowledged to Zelensky that there could be a delay in sending the Patriot interceptors already paid for by NATO countries. But the reason, he explained, is that the United States needs to make sure it has enough resources to protect its own military bases around the world.
- “Nothing is deliberately denied. We balance our obligations to our partners and our own needs,” he said. “There was no deliberate political directive to harm Ukraine.”
- Rubio also claimed that the numerous cases in which Ukraine was not warned in advance about Russian ballistic missile attacks were the result of technical failures and not a U.S. order.
What he says: “There are definitely tensions,” he said. “That’s why we got this call. The president is frustrated. The president is responding to insinuations that he is doing things to deliberately harm Ukraine, which is neither fair nor true.”
- Rubio said Trump was “angry and frustrated” over the lack of progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine after two years of effort.
The other side: Zelensky wrote on X after the call that he was “grateful” for Rubio’s “willingness to help and clear position.”
- He said Ukraine needs ballistic missile interceptors and early warning to protect Ukrainian citizens and stressed that “the situation with Starlink and Starshield must be restored.”
State of play: Witkoff arrived in Oslo on Tuesday for talks with Zelensky and European leaders.
- The discussions are expected to involve Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, representatives from the E4 countries (UK, France, Germany and Poland) and officials from the EU and NATO.
- After Oslo, Witkoff plans to travel to Russia to meet with Putin and present ideas developed in consultation with Ukrainian and European leaders.
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