US President Donald Trump said that Washington had not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine and continues to cooperate with Kyiv. The American leader made the statement on October 13 while speaking with journalists, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
Details
During a conversation with media representatives, the US president was asked whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Trump denied that such cooperation had been suspended and stressed that Washington continues to assist the Ukrainian side.
"No, we have not done that (stopped sharing intelligence — ed.). We are helping them," the American leader said.
The US president did not specify what types of intelligence Ukrainian forces continue to receive or whether Washington was discussing any restrictions on such cooperation.
What else Donald Trump said
Trump also confirmed that he is working simultaneously with Kyiv and moscow to end the war.
"We are helping them (the Ukrainians — ed.) and sharing intelligence. We want the war to end, so we are working with them and russia to bring the war to an end," the US president said.
Speaking about the prospects for a peaceful settlement, Trump expressed the belief that both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian dictator vladimir putin want the war to end. At the same time, he said, there is considerable hostility between them, and the paths to reaching agreements remain uncertain.
Context
Trump's statement came amid reports of a possible restriction of US assistance to Ukraine over strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure.
On October 11, the Financial Times, citing European officials, reported that US representatives had allegedly threatened to stop sharing intelligence and block the PURL mechanism, through which European allies purchase US weapons for Ukraine. According to the publication, Washington demanded that Ukraine halt attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Earlier, on October 13, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also confirmed that cooperation with the United States in sharing intelligence was continuing. The head of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry explained the delay in announcing the air raid alert by the characteristics of the weapons used by Russian forces. At the same time, the Ukrainian side did not claim that the lack of a warning resulted from the cessation of the transfer of US intelligence.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 13 that the Ukrainian side had not received advance warning from its partners about Russia's ballistic strike on Kyiv on the evening of October 12. According to him, five missiles hit civilian infrastructure in the capital.