U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a phone call on Tuesday, October 20, that U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't issued any kind of order to harm Ukraine. Axios reported this, UNN writes.
Details
The conversation, according to the publication, was an attempt to prevent further escalation of the "crisis" between the United States and Ukraine, as well as to refute Ukraine's accusations that Trump is trying to force Zelenskyy to make concessions to russia.
The 45-minute conversation took place several 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 be presented to kremlin head vladimir putin, the publication writes.
The "crisis," the publication writes, erupted 10 days ago when Trump announced a deal with russia on diesel fuel, while his envoys were holding talks with Ukrainian officials in Miami.
On Monday, Zelenskyy, the publication notes, "lobbied a bipartisan group of senators to pressure the Trump administration to reverse what he described as restrictions on intelligence sharing and arms supplies."
Rubio told reporters on Tuesday, October 20, that he "explained to Zelenskyy that the Pentagon had not changed anything regarding intelligence sharing with Ukraine, arms sales, or restrictions on the use of the Starshield satellite system."
Trump administration is holding back supply of missiles for Patriot to Ukraine - WP20.10.26, 08:55
"No change was ordered. It is not true that we restricted it," Rubio said.
Rubio, it is noted, "acknowledged to Zelenskyy that there could be a delay in sending Patriot interceptor missiles that have already been paid for by NATO countries." But the reason, he said, "is that the United States must ensure that it has sufficient resources 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 claimed that several instances in which Ukraine did not receive advance warning of Russian ballistic missile attacks were the result of technical failures, not a U.S. order.
"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 that Trump was "angry and frustrated" by the lack of progress in peace talks between russia and Ukraine after two years of efforts.
Meanwhile, Witkoff had already arrived in Oslo on Tuesday for talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, representatives of the E4 countries (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland), and EU and NATO officials are expected to participate in the talks.
After Oslo, Witkoff plans to travel to russia to meet with putin and present ideas developed during consultations with Ukrainian and European leaders.
Witkoff plans trip to Russia after talks with Zelenskyy in Oslo - Axios20.10.26, 08:37