Rubio denies deliberately withholding supplies from Ukraine after 45-minute call
Key Facts
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied deliberately withholding U.S. supplies from Ukraine, in remarks reported by Reuters on Tuesday, amid a dispute over weapons deliveries and satellite communications services used in Ukraine's war effort. Rubio said he held a 45-minute call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy covering issues related to U.S. supplies to Kyiv. He added: "Nothing is being deliberately withheld from Ukraine," denying that the disruption of supplies was an intentional measure against it. Reuters, meanwhile, reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had yet to authorize delivery of the latest U.S. weapons package purchased by NATO allies for Ukraine. The package was purchased through a program under which allies fund U.S. equipment destined for Kyiv.
NATO says the program operates through allies purchasing critical defense equipment from the United States and then delivering it to Ukraine. The allocations announced by the alliance to support Kyiv cover both this program and the U.S. Foreign Military Sales channel. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in a statement published in September that allies had allocated more than $10 billion to the two channels during the year preceding his remarks. That amount covers the announced allocations for the program and Foreign Military Sales combined, according to Rutte's statement. Alongside the weapons issue, Zelenskiy said his conversation with Rubio addressed the status of Starlink and Starshield services, adding that the status of these services "needs to be restored."
The Ukrainian presidency said speed restrictions imposed on the two satellite communications services were undermining logistical supplies to troops on the front line. It added that the restrictions also affected Ukraine's ability to carry out medium-range strikes. Their effects, according to the presidency, include weakening Ukraine's ability to defend against Shahed drones targeting it. Kyiv thus linked the communications restrictions to its forces' supply, offensive and defensive operations. In remarks published by the Ukrainian presidency about the restrictions, Zelenskiy said: "We still have no explanation for this," expressing the continuing dispute over the services whose use by Ukraine is restricted.
On energy, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the issuance of Russia General License No. 135, covering Russian diesel transactions. The license permits transactions involving the sale, delivery, unloading and import of the fuel, according to the document issued by the department. The authorization includes imports of Russian diesel into the United States among the transactions approved by the Treasury. The department set the authorization's expiry at April 7, 2027, giving diesel transactions covered by the license a defined deadline. When the diesel deal was announced, the U.S. national average diesel price remained at $6.28 per gallon, according to American Automobile Association data cited by the Associated Press. The deal thus came while U.S. diesel prices remained high, according to the agency's description.
In Tuesday's session following the announcement of the diesel agreement, U.S. diesel futures rose about 5%, according to a Reuters report on trading that session. The agency attributed the move to doubts surrounding the agreement, in a market reaction that coincided with arrangements concerning Russian supplies. On military operations linked to energy, Reuters reported that Ukraine had resumed strikes on Russian refineries after refraining from targeting them for several days. The pause in those strikes was in response to a request by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the agency. Zelenskiy said, according to the Associated Press, that he was open to an energy-sector ceasefire. But he made that conditional on a halt to Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid.
On the diplomatic front, Reuters reported that Zelenskiy was scheduled to travel to the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on Tuesday to meet U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. The planned talks follow the Ukrainian president's call with Rubio and his raising of issues concerning supplies and satellite communications services. Norway said Jared Kushner would join the talks virtually, according to the agency's reporting on the meeting arrangements. On the Russian side, the Kremlin said it hoped to arrange a meeting soon between President Vladimir Putin and Witkoff. It said the prospective meeting would discuss the Ukrainian peace process, adding: "We hope a meeting can be arranged in the very near future."