Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces have struck American-linked ships and oil infrastructure on multiple occasions in recent months, a revelation that adds new friction to US-Ukraine relations ahead of a high-stakes meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Speaking on "Fox & Friends," Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, said the incidents were "probably not deliberate" but nonetheless constituted a serious concern. "American-linked ships, American oil supplies, have been targeted — probably not deliberately — but targeted nonetheless by Ukraine," he said. "So that’s something that needs to be addressed. We can’t have that happen."
The secretary did not specify the dates, locations, or extent of the attacks, and the Pentagon declined to comment, while the State Department referred questions to the White House.
The remarks come just hours before Zelensky and Trump are set to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Ukrainian leader also met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Ireland on Monday, according to The Hill.
Rubio’s comments align with earlier reports that the US had pressed Ukraine to stop targeting the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk, a key export hub for Kazakh crude. In late July, Vice President Vance asked Zelensky to halt strikes on oil tankers using that facility, according to the Financial Times. The US was "alarmed" that such attacks were destabilizing global oil markets, and Kyiv agreed to avoid non-Russian ships and CPC infrastructure, the FT reported.
The issue of Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure has also drawn attention from Trump himself. On Monday, he acknowledged that Ukraine’s military operations have severely hit Russian diesel refineries, saying Moscow had "lost control" of its diesel oil industry, as noted in Trump’s admission.
Zelensky has repeatedly pressed Washington for more Patriot interceptor missiles to defend against Russia’s relentless missile barrages. Earlier this year, Trump said the US would allow Ukraine to co-produce Patriot systems, and the State Department recently approved a $2.6 billion air defense package for Kyiv.
Rubio’s public expression of concern over Ukrainian attacks on US-linked assets underscores the delicate balancing act the Trump administration faces: supporting Ukraine’s defense while trying to avoid escalation that could drag the US into a wider conflict or disrupt energy markets. The president’s push to end the war, as Rubio reiterated, remains a central theme, but the path to peace is complicated by these recent incidents.
As the two leaders prepare to meet, the question of how to address these strikes while continuing to back Ukraine will likely be a key point of discussion. The meeting comes amid renewed overnight strikes between Russia and Ukraine, underscoring the urgency of the situation.
