Rubio insists the US isn’t trying to hurt Ukraine

Key Points:

• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied any change in U.S. policy regarding sharing early warnings of Russian missile attacks with Ukraine and refuted claims that the Pentagon is deliberately withholding air defense missiles.
• Rubio emphasized that Ukraine's requests for more interceptors must be balanced against U.S. and allied needs, noting global demand for Patriot system interceptors from countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the U.S. of delaying delivery of air-defense missiles and failing to provide timely warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks, which has raised concerns in Kyiv about U.S. reliability.
• Rubio acknowledged issues with Ukraine receiving missile attack warnings on specific dates but attributed these to possible internal Ukrainian processing problems rather than deliberate U.S. withholding.
• The tensions come amid broader geopolitical shifts, including criticism from the EU's top diplomat about U.S. pressure on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, and increased civilian casualties in Ukraine due to intensified missile and drone strikes.