War in Ukraine: Marco Rubio denies any “pause” in sharing intelligence with kyiv

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday there had been “no pause” in intelligence sharing with kyiv, while calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “focus” on “ending the war”.

“There has been no pause,” Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, commenting on a statement by Volodymyr Zelensky that the United States had resumed intelligence sharing with Ukraine after a hiatus. “What he needs to focus on (...) is putting an end to the war,” said Marco Rubio.

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“No one wins”

President Donald Trump on Sunday accused his Ukrainian counterpart of “not wanting to end” the war with Russia, against a backdrop of renewed tensions between Washington and kyiv. A presidential executive order from Donald Trump exempted Russia from new U.S. sanctions on Friday and a deal between Washington and Moscow allowing the United States to import Russian diesel was announced days earlier.

The Republican president makes the link between the Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and the surge in diesel prices at the pump - one of the major issues in the American mid-term legislative elections on November 3. The head of American diplomacy reaffirmed on this subject that the 60-day exemptions should be used to buy time “in order to see if the discussions can lead to something positive”.

Asked by a journalist about information from the Wall Street Journal, according to which Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed to his American and Chinese counterparts Xi Jinping a meeting next month to discuss an end to the conflict - without kyiv -, the Secretary of State was evasive. “I don’t know if it’s been finalized,” he said. But the American president “was clear. He wants the war between Ukraine and Russia to end. “Regarding our relationship (with Ukraine), our objective is to end the war” that “no one wins,” added Marco Rubio, again emphasizing the risks of spreading the conflict in Europe.