US Intelligence Still Flows to Ukraine, Sybiha Says

Ukraine continues to receive intelligence from the US, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday, Oct. 13, following concerns that Washington may have suspended the cooperation.

Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum, Sybiha was asked about the absence of an advance air raid warning before Russia’s overnight ballistic missile attack.

“You are probably asking me if we are receiving intelligence data from the American side. Yes, we continue this cooperation,” Sybiha said, according to The Guardian.

Sybiha did not disclose what types of intelligence Washington continues to provide or whether the scope of the cooperation has changed.

Why Kyiv’s air raid alert was delayed

Sybiha confirmed that the air raid alert during Monday night’s Russian attack was activated late but said this was caused by the weapons Moscow used rather than an interruption in US intelligence sharing.

“It is also true that yesterday’s attack, or nighttime attack, the red alert was launched with a delay, but this was because of the special type of weaponry used by the Russian side,” he said.

Ukraine’s Air Force said it had not received prior information about the launches. The ballistic missiles were detected only after the attack was already underway.

Russia targeted Kyiv with approximately six ballistic missiles at around 10:10 p.m. on Monday, striking transport and warehouse facilities in several districts.

The attack came after a Russian drone struck a residential high-rise earlier in the day. Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine from Monday into Tuesday killed two women and injured nine people in Kyiv.

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Ballistic missiles travel at extremely high speeds and follow trajectories that significantly reduce the time available to detect them, activate alerts, and reach shelter.

Reports of US pressure fuel concerns

Questions over intelligence sharing emerged after reports that US officials had threatened to restrict military support unless Ukraine stopped striking Russian oil refineries.

During talks in Miami, US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly warned Ukrainian negotiators that Washington could suspend intelligence sharing if Kyiv continued its long-range attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure.

A person familiar with the discussions also told Reuters that the US had raised the possibility of restricting weapons procurement through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).

The reported threat followed US President Donald Trump’s calls for Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian refineries amid rising global diesel prices.

An assessment of the possible suspension found that losing US intelligence would particularly affect Ukraine’s early warning against ballistic missiles, although European intelligence and Ukraine’s own surveillance capabilities could replace part of the lost coverage.

Sybiha’s statement indicates that the reported restrictions have not been implemented.

From “no cards” to “don’t play your cards”

Sybiha also argued that Ukraine’s position in relations with its partners had strengthened significantly during the war.

“In less than two years, we have gone from a situation where you have no cards in your hands to a stage where we are told not to play our cards,” he said at the Warsaw Security Forum, according to Ukrinform.

“This is our real achievement and an important lesson that we have learned,” Sybiha added.

He said Ukraine was defending the idea of freedom on the battlefield and paying a high price for it.

According to the foreign minister, the future of Europe, the global security architecture, and the fate of international law are now being decided in Ukraine.

“Ukraine’s front line is Europe’s first line of defense,” he said.