The suspension of intelligence-sharing by the Trump administration has diminished Kyiv’s defenses against Russia, according to a Democratic U.S. senator who recently visited Ukraine. The senator also criticized Trump advisor Elon Musk, referring to him as a “traitor.”
Senator Mark Kelly assured reporters, “One hundred percent,” when they asked if he had learned anything during his visit on particular assaults or incidents that might have been affected had the Ukrainians had the intelligence, Reuters shares.
“If there’s stuff they don’t get, that they need, that changes their ability to defend against attacks,” Kelly said. “And those attacks happened on Friday night, on Saturday, when I was there.”
No additional information was provided by the senator from Arizona.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces launched an assault on Thursday, damaging Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure and killing 14 and wounding 37 in a missile and drone strike. Ukrainian authorities reported that Russia continued to attack Kyiv with airstrikes overnight on Monday.
Over the weekend, Kelly—a member of the Armed Services Committee—visited Ukraine to examine the situation and offer his support to the Ukrainian people.
There is mounting pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to join forces with U.S. President Donald Trump in arranging peace talks with Russia after the Trump administration said last week that it has ended intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
After a meeting between Trump and Vice President JD Vance—who had vocally opposed help to Ukraine while serving in the Senate—and Zelenskiy, the meeting resulted in a halt to U.S. military aid to Kyiv, which led to that suspension.
A day before meetings between Ukrainian and U.S. officials that Washington believes would bring considerable progress towards resolving Russia’s war with Ukraine, Zelenskiy met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
After having the backing of hundreds of Trump Republicans and Democrats, the issue of aid to the Ukrainian government has been much more politicized since the start of Trump’s second term on January 20.
While Democrats have maintained their firm backing for Kyiv, Republicans have shown signs of weakness, with House Speaker Mike Johnson expressing “no appetite” for additional bill financing help.
The political gulf was further highlighted when Musk branded Kelly a “traitor” on Musk’s own social media site X.com in response to Kelly’s post on his weekend travel to Ukraine and Trump’s alleged attempts to undermine Ukraine in preparation for peace talks.
“Obviously, he’s not a serious guy,” Kelly told reporters when questioned about Musk, a former astronaut and combat pilot during a 25-year Navy career.
Since 2023, Kelly has made three trips to Ukraine.
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