Behind the Scenes of the U.S. Failure to Warn Ukraine About the Ballistic Missile Attack: Has the Intelligence Cooperation Been Cut?

Contradictory statements from U.S. officials about the nature of intelligence support have fueled speculation that new pressure will be placed on Kyiv.

Ambassador Arjan: Contradictory statements by American officials about the manner of intelligence support have strengthened speculations about putting new pressure on Kiev.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Russia had taken the Ukrainian capital by surprise in its latest attack and attacked the country with more than 100 drones and five ballistic missiles.

"Getting information about Russian ballistic missile launches helps save lives, and that's one of the most critical issues," Zelensky said. "When early warning is given about ballistic missiles, that's exactly what helps prevent people from being killed." "Unfortunately, there was no warning from our partners about this attack," he added. Politico quoted a US official as saying that Washington said no warning was issued due to adverse weather conditions. Kiev does not find this explanation convincing. Last week, the United States once again threatened that if Kiev does not stop attacks on Russian oil refineries, it will cut off the exchange of security information with Ukraine.

Be sure to read: Trump's warning about the arrival of Russian fighter jets / growing concerns about the expansion of the war in Ukraine

In response to a question about whether the United States has stopped sharing security information with Ukraine, the new White House spokeswoman, Cathy Zakaria, declined to give a direct answer at her press conference on Tuesday, saying: "I'll have to look into that and then give an answer." An hour later, in a conversation with reporters at the White House, Trump claimed that the United States had not stopped exchanging security information with Ukraine. Russia has not yet commented on the recent ballistic missile attacks, but the country's defense ministry said in a general statement that it had targeted military installations and weapons production centers across Ukraine.