Rubio: Trump 'frustrated' by claims he's harming Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Tuesday that President Donald Trump is "frustrated" by accusations that he has deliberately harmed Ukraine, including claims that he ordered intelligence sharing to be halted.

"The president is frustrated because, first of all, he doesn't like to be blamed for things that aren't true, including accusations that somehow he had ordered intelligence sharing to be cut off," Rubio said during a visit to India. "And that's not true; he's said that repeatedly."

Rubio added, "I think the president, more than anything, is responding to the insinuation that somehow he is doing things to deliberately harm Ukraine – which is not fair and not true."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Oslo on Tuesday for talks with top U.S. envoys aimed at placing strained relations with Washington "on a more constructive path." Zelensky posted on social media that he is maintaining "all contacts that can help bring peace."

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store announced that Oslo would host discussions between Zelensky, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (participating remotely), and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Relations between Kyiv and Washington have reportedly soured since Trump partially lifted sanctions to facilitate a diesel supply deal with Russia and characterized Zelensky as a "warmonger" for Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Zelensky has accused the United States of deliberately withholding vital intelligence and delaying military aid. He stated on Monday that Ukraine received no early warning of powerful Russian missile strikes targeting energy facilities in the capital region. Zelensky told U.S. senators on Monday that "the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles" already paid for by European countries and that the shipment awaited the signature of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He also noted that several European countries are ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but await U.S. approval.

The United States has denied making any changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Rubio stated Tuesday that Washington is not deliberately withholding supplies, explaining it is "a balance between our obligations to other partners and frankly our own... requirements for our own facilities as well."

Trump has also denied ordering a reduction in speeds on the U.S. government-owned Starshield network, after Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX developed it, said such an order could only have come from the White House. The U.S. leader has accused his counterpart of not trying to resolve the conflict with Russia.

"Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about," Trump said on Monday. "To be honest, I think it's time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine."

Trump indicated he was ready to meet with Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China next month to discuss denuclearization, and that talks could also cover the Ukraine war. This has fueled fears in Kyiv that it is being sidelined.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that "the topic of such a hypothetical has indeed been mentioned" regarding a potential meeting between Trump, Putin, and Xi. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga stated that such a meeting would "only encourage Putin to continue this war."

News outlet Axios reported that Witkoff would travel from Oslo to Russia to meet Putin. Peskov told reporters Tuesday, "We hope that it will be possible to arrange a meeting in the very near future, allowing the American negotiators... Mr. Witkoff, to brief President Putin on their contacts with both the Ukrainians and the Europeans."

Ukrainian authorities reported Tuesday that Russian strikes killed at least six people across the country as Moscow targets energy and transport infrastructure with winter approaching. These attacks followed Zelensky's statement that Kyiv would resume hitting Russian refineries in response to unrelenting strikes, more than four-and-a-half years into the war.