A suspected terror plot near a UK air base showed the US has its own defence needs, America’s top diplomat has said as he was tackled over delays to crucial military aid reaching Ukraine.
Marco Rubio referred to last month’s security alert close to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire to underline prioritising US requirements, while denying there was “some deliberate political directive” to harm the Kyiv government.
The comments by the US secretary of state come amid a bitter spat between President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
The US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire following the recent security alert (Ben Birchall/PA)
PA Wire
The latest row has been further fuelled after Mr Trump waived fresh sanctions against Moscow, despite having previously approved them.
The US president, earlier this month, also struck a deal to allow the sale of Russian diesel in a bid to bring down soaring fuel prices ahead of stateside elections, which threaten heavy losses to his Republican Party.
Critics at home and abroad have strongly opposed the move, warning it will further fund the Kremlin’s war machine.
It led Mr Zelensky to accuse the US president of being on the wrong side of history.
In turn, Mr Trump has suggested Ukraine needs a new leader and refused to say Russian president Vladimir Putin started the war.
Amid the heightened tensions, Kyiv has accused the US administration of withholding intelligence and disrupting the Starlink satellite communications system, leaving the country exposed to attack.
Both claims have been strongly denied by the White House.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is also reported to have held off approving a major shipment to Ukraine of US-made Patriot interceptor missiles, already paid for by Nato allies.
This was not disputed by Mr Rubio when pressed on the issue during a visit to India, but he indicated this was linked to availability of the weapon.
The US president has faced criticism for his approach towards Russia (Charlie Riedel/AP)
AP
He said: “I know one of the things that President Zelensky has been talking about is that he’s been trying to buy interceptors, and I understand. So does every other country in the world.
He added: “It’s probably the most in-demand product right now in the defence field.
“So when a country doesn’t get interceptors from the United States, it’s not that we’ve denied it. We have our own needs too.
“We have minimum standards that we have to meet internally in our base presence all over the world. That includes in our bases in Europe, as an example.”
He went on: “We have a global defence footprint, and many of our installations around the world require air defence.
“So there’s nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine. It’s simply… it’s a balance between our obligations to other partners, and frankly our own standards and requirements for our own facilities as well.”
Mr Rubio pointed out: “We do have bases in Europe, our partners do as well. You recently saw, for example – and I’m not just pointing to this, this is something that’s emergent – but you saw a threat against an airfield in the UK.
“We have other large air presences in the region. And then we have minimum requirements – not only that but as part of our Nato presence. So all these things are balanced on a daily basis.
“I think the important takeaway from you is that there has not been some deliberate political directive to go out and harm Ukraine. This is just not accurate.”
Mr Rubio indicated the problems over intelligence sharing were “a technical matter”.
He said: “It was not the result of any sort of US directive not to provide advance warning of a strike. And we are providing the same warnings to them now that we always have.”
A number of people have been arrested in connection with the incident near to RAF Fairford, which had been hosting US bombers involved in strikes against Iran.
Washington subsequently withdrew the aircraft in response to what Mr Trump described as “some threats”.