Rubio Says U.S. Companies Complained Ukraine Hit Ships Carrying Their Oil; Denies Any Pause in Intelligence Sharing

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says American companies have complained to the State Department that Ukrainian strikes in the Black Sea hit ships carrying their oil, and on Monday he denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's claim that the U.S. had paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

Rubio made the oil comments in an interview with Breitbart News at the State Department, released Sunday. The State Department's transcript of the interview is dated Oct. 15.

"That Was Our Oil"

Asked about President Trump's frustration with Zelensky, Rubio pointed to the Black Sea strikes.

"For example, months ago we have seen strikes on energy vessels in the Black Sea, and there have been complaints lodged because we have American companies calling us and saying hey, that was our oil on that ship that was hit by Ukraine," Rubio said, according to the State Department transcript.

"Now, I don't believe Ukraine intentionally targeted them, but those ships got hit," he said. "And we already have a world that is facing an energy crisis because of what's happening in Hormuz, what's happening in the Red Sea, what's happening in different places. We don't need any exacerbating situations, and there's been frustration despite these asks."

Rubio added that the administration also has frustrations with Russia. "The President does not like to see this image of a ballistic missile hitting an apartment building in Kyiv and innocent civilians being wiped out as a result of it," he said.

He described the war as centered on the Donetsk region. "This war is honestly about one part of Ukraine called Donetsk. The Russians occupy all but about 11 percent of that area," Rubio said, adding that Ukraine considers its defensive line there "the last defensible line" before Kyiv.

The Fight Over Intelligence Sharing

On Monday, speaking to reporters in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Rubio rejected Zelensky's claim that U.S. intelligence used to warn Ukraine of Russian ballistic missile attacks had been cut off.

"There's been no pause," Rubio said, according to the New York Post. "I don't know where he's getting these things from or why he's saying these things to the press." He said Zelensky should be focused on "bringing an end to this war," according to news reports.

In the State Department's transcript of the Samarkand remarks, Rubio said he could not comment on what happened overnight. "I know a few nights ago there was a software problem involving their early warning system that I know CENTCOM – sorry, I know that EUCOM had been involved in looking at, and that's the report they gave us back," he said.

Zelensky told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that only the United States "has this unique intelligence to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles. And we didn't get it," the New York Post reported. Zelensky also said the intelligence sharing had since resumed, Al Jazeera reported.

On Monday, Zelensky wrote that "once again, there was no early warning from our partners" after another overnight Russian ballistic missile attack, according to the German news agency dpa.

Rubio said in Samarkand that "no one is winning that war" and that "the President has been clear he'd like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end." Asked about a reported proposal for a meeting of Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Rubio said, "I think there's been talks of a meeting. I don't know anything's been finalized."

Trump: "Negotiating Peace"

Trump defended his approach on Truth Social on Sunday. "I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table," he wrote, according to the New York Post.

In the same post, Trump claimed that Zelensky "is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States," the Post reported.

On Friday, Trump halted plans to impose sanctions on Moscow under a bipartisan bill, the Post reported. In Samarkand, Rubio said Trump's post explained "why it is that he has done the things he's done with suspending the sanctions for 60 days," adding that the president wants to see if talks with both Ukraine and Russia can "lead to something positive and avoid another disastrous year of war and conflict."

Sources: U.S. Department of State, "Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Matthew Boyle of Breitbart News" (transcript dated Oct. 15, 2026): https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/10/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-with-matthew-boyle-of-breitbart-news/ ; U.S. Department of State, "Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to Press," Registan Square, Samarkand, Uzbekistan (Oct. 19, 2026): https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/10/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks-to-press-17/ ; New York Post (Oct. 19, 2026): https://nypost.com/2026/10/19/us-news/rubio-says-ukraine-attacked-ships-carrying-us-owned-oil-demands-zelensky-bring-an-end-to-this-war/ ; Al Jazeera (Oct. 19, 2026): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/19/rubio-says-there-was-no-us-pause-in-intelligence-sharing-with ; dpa via Yahoo News: https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/rubio-no-pause-intelligence-sharing-144824434.html