Arabic version: فيندمان يتهم ترامب وروبيو بشأن استخبارات أوكرانيا

According to The Guardian, Representative Eugene Vindman, a Democratic member of the House armed services committee from Virginia, accused President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of lying about whether the United States had restricted intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

In an interview with CNN, Vindman said the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act required intelligence sharing to continue or Congress to be notified. He said investigations into Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claims had found that Ukraine was no longer consistently receiving early warnings of ballistic missile attacks. “Sometimes they get warnings, sometimes they don’t,” Vindman said, adding that this had not been the case before recent days.

Vindman, a former US army officer, said the alleged disruption was “costing lives” and described the administration’s statements as “gaslighting.” He also linked the dispute to the midterm elections, saying Trump’s policies, including tariffs and the war in the Middle East, had caused gas prices to rise.

Zelenskyy said he had held a “substantive conversation” with Rubio and cited the need for ballistic missile interceptors, early warning of Russian ballistic missile attacks, and the restoration of Starlink and Starshield. Kyiv has said disrupted US intelligence has affected Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian attacks.

Rubio, speaking to reporters in India, denied that there had been a deliberate political directive to harm Ukraine. He said the US was reviewing apparently undetected airstrikes on 13 and 18 October, but believed any failures were a technical matter rather than a decision to withhold advance warning. Rubio said the United States was providing Ukraine the same warnings it had always provided.