Rubio outraged by claims US no longer warns Ukraine of ballistic threats

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has dismissed reports that the United States has stopped transmitting data on ballistic threats to Ukraine as false.

Source: European Pravda, citing Rubio speaking to journalists in India

Details: Rubio insists that the lack of warning about the launch of Russian ballistic missiles against Ukraine was an "internal issue" rather than a deliberate move by the US administration.

Quote: "I saw somebody associated with the Ukrainian government say that people in Ukraine are dying because the US is denying them information. That's scandalous. That's outrageous. That's just simply not true. That's not accurate."

Details: Rubio noted that he was referring to the Russian attacks on 13 and 18 October. The US is currently investigating the nature of the problem with the warnings.

Quote: "Now, that there was a problem identifying that, perhaps there was an internal issue in terms of them being able to take the information that was being provided and systematise it and react to it. That's possible. We're looking at it. Our understanding is that to the extent that happened on the 13th and on the 18th, it was a technical matter.

It was not the result of any sort of US directive not to provide advance warning of a strike. And we are providing the same warnings to them now that we always have."

Background:

• On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Rubio to discuss the situation regarding Starlink, warnings about ballistic attacks, and air defence assistance.
• On 18 October, Zelenskyy said the US had resumed intelligence sharing with Ukraine to defend against Russian missile strikes.
• Meanwhile, Rubio insisted that there had previously been "software problems" on the Ukrainian side, which caused delays in notifications regarding ballistic threats.

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