Rubio Denies U.S. Paused Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine, Contradicting Zelensky

SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan: Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied on Monday that the United States had paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, directly contradicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said over the weekend that the flow of information had been briefly interrupted.

Zelensky, speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, said the sharing had been “de-blocked.”

“We are very thankful for this,” he said. “Now it works.”

Rubio, speaking to reporters in Samarkand after touring Registan Square, a historic complex of madrassas, said no interruption had occurred at all.

“I don’t know where he’s getting these things or why he’s saying these things to the press. You should go back and ask him. There’s been no pause,” Rubio said, according to Reuters.

“What he should be focused on, and what we want to be focused on, is bringing an end to this war. That’s what he should be focused on,” Rubio said of Zelensky.

A week of conflicting accounts

The dispute is the latest in a series of contradictions between Washington and Kyiv in recent days, as relations between the two countries have deteriorated. Zelensky has also said he believes the U.S. government was behind recent limits on Ukraine’s use of Starshield, the SpaceX-built satellite communications system Ukraine uses to help defend against Russian drones and missiles. U.S. officials have denied those claims as well, according to Reuters.

Ukraine relies on American intelligence to spot fast-moving ballistic missiles Russia has fired in waves at Ukrainian cities. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that Washington was still sharing intelligence, although Ukrainian officials said some Russian strikes occurred without warning, raising questions about whether the information was flowing normally.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.