Intelligence Sharing Ukraine: US Resumes Missile Alerts
The intelligence sharing Ukraine depends on to detect incoming Russian ballistic missiles is flowing again after a brief interruption, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, telling NBC’s Meet the Press that Kyiv went three days without the warnings and is thankful the feed has been restored.
“It was blocked for some period of time. And then it was deblocked by the American side. We are very thankful for this. Now it works,” Zelensky said, adding that only the United States has the kind of intelligence that tells Ukraine when Russia launches ballistic missiles. “We didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days.”
A Week of Pressure on Kyiv
The restoration follows days of escalating friction between the Trump administration and Ukraine. Zelensky said the administration had warned Kyiv that intelligence sharing could be cut off if Ukraine did not stop striking Russian oil refineries — while Trump himself insisted earlier this week that Washington was still sharing intelligence, even as Ukrainian officials said some Russian strikes arrived without warning.
The freeze came after Trump’s October 9 announcement of a Russian diesel purchase deal and his Friday waiver of sweeping Russia sanctions that had been scheduled to take effect this week — both moves Zelensky has condemned as helping Moscow. Trump wrote on Truth Social on October 18 that his decisions were aimed at avoiding anything “that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.”
What Comes Next
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, appearing on Meet the Press after the interview aired, said Ukraine receives American help that Russia does not, including intelligence sharing and US munitions supplied to other countries for resale to Ukraine. But when pressed repeatedly on whether Washington considers Ukraine an ally, Bessent declined to answer directly.
“Zelensky presents a false binary this morning that Ukraine must win,” Bessent said. “The war must end, and that will be with some kind of a negotiated settlement.”
Zelensky, for his part, said he hopes to hold talks with US officials as early as this week — possibly October 20 or 21. He also said Ukraine still faces speed restrictions on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink system.
Source: Reuters