Trump isn't out to hurt Ukraine, Rubio tells Zelensky
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February. Photo: Ukranian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images
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. "That is why we had the call. The president is frustrated. The president is responding to the insinuation that he is doing things to deliberately harm Ukraine, which is not fair and not true."
- Rubio said Trump is "angry and frustrated" about the lack of progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine after two years of efforts.
The other side: Zelensky wrote on X after the call that he is "grateful" for Rubio's "readiness to help and his clear position."
- He said Ukraine needs ballistic missile interceptors and early warnings to protect Ukrainian citizens and stressed that "the situation with Starlink and Starshield needs to be restored."
State of play: Witkoff arrived in Oslo on Tuesday for talks with Zelensky and European leaders.
- The talks there are expected to include Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, representatives of the E4 nations (the U.K., France, Germany and Poland) and officials from the EU and NATO.
- Following Oslo, Witkoff plans to travel to Russia to meet with Putin and present ideas developed in consultation with Ukrainian and European leaders.
