Rubio also pushed back against a Ukrainian official's statement to the BBC that people are dying because Washington is restricting intelligence, calling the allegation "scandalous" and "outrageous." Addressing Kyiv's requests for air defense interceptors, Rubio said the US is not withholding supplies but must balance allocations against competing demands from other allies and the US military's own needs.
Zelenskyy described the call as a "substantive conversation" and said he raised three priorities with Rubio: securing ballistic missile interceptors, ensuring early warning of Russian ballistic attacks, and restoring full access to SpaceX's Starlink and Starshield satellite services. The two leaders agreed to speak again soon, following a week of tensions after Zelenskyy said Ukraine went three days without US ballistic launch warnings during Russian strikes on its power grid.