US resumes warnings to Ukraine about Russian ballistic attacks - Zelensky

The United States has resumed providing Ukraine with intelligence necessary for timely warning of Russian ballistic attacks. After several instances of absence of such warnings, the system is working again.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated this on October 20 at a press conference in Oslo following a meeting with U.S. President's Special Representative Steve Witkoff.

According to the head of state, the restoration of intelligence sharing became one of the important issues in relations between Kyiv and Washington after recent problems with warnings about Russian missile strikes.

“We are grateful that intelligence is working now. As for warnings, this is very important for people, for children, for civilians. We can know when ballistic missiles are flying. It works now,” — Zelensky said.

The president said that on the morning of October 20, while heading to Oslo, he had a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The sides discussed several sensitive issues of military cooperation, including intelligence sharing, supplies of interceptor missiles, and restrictions on the operation of Starlink and Starshield satellite communications.

Zelensky characterized the conversation as positive and constructive. According to him, the discussion was substantive, and the sides agreed to talk again within the next 48 hours to assess the situation.

The need to restore reliable warnings arose after several Russian ballistic attacks on Kyiv, during which Ukraine did not receive timely information from international partners.

In particular, on October 12 and 13, warnings about the launch of Russian missiles were delayed or absent. A similar situation recurred during the attack on the night of October 19.

As previously reported by “Kurs Ukrainy”, spokesperson for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ihnat confirmed that before the first wave of ballistic strikes on October 19, no warning was received from partners. However, before the next wave, relevant information was already transmitted.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier acknowledged the existence of technical problems in the early warning system but did not confirm assumptions about intentional restriction of intelligence support for Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump also denied that Washington had stopped providing intelligence data to Kyiv.

At the same time, Zelensky already on October 18 spoke about the resumption of the relevant exchange after several days of disruptions. The new statement on October 20 confirms that, according to the Ukrainian president's assessment, the ballistic threat warning mechanism is functioning again.

This primarily concerns timely receipt of information about missile danger. No reports were made about complete elimination of the causes of previous failures or additional changes in intelligence cooperation between the US and Ukraine.

Based on materials: press conference of Volodymyr Zelensky, Office of the President of Ukraine, hromadske.