By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Democratic U.S. senator who just visited Ukraine said on Monday the Trump administration’s suspension of intelligence-sharing had lessened Kyiv’s defenses against Russia, and dismissed Trump advisor Elon Musk calling him a “traitor.”
“One hundred percent,” Senator Mark Kelly told reporters when asked if he had heard during his visit of specific attacks or incidents that would have been affected if Ukrainians had had the intelligence.
“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.”
The Arizona senator did not provide further details.
Since Thursday, Ukrainian authorities have reported Russian attacks including damage to Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure, and an assault with missiles and drones in which at least 14 people were killed and 37 wounded. Russia launched more air strikes overnight Monday on Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said.
Kelly, a member of the Armed Services Committee, was in Ukraine from Saturday to Sunday to show support for its people and assess the situation there.
The Trump administration announced last week that it had halted intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, piling pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cooperate with U.S. President Donald Trump in convening peace talks with Russia.
That suspension followed a halt to U.S. military aid to Kyiv after a White House meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who opposed aid to Ukraine during his Senate term, clashed publicly with Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy was in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a day before talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials that Washington hopes will deliver substantial progress towards ending Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Assistance for the government in Kyiv, once something strongly supported by dozens of Trump’s Republicans as well as Democrats, has become far more partisan since Trump began his second term on January 20.
Democratic support for Kyiv has stayed strong, but Republicans have wavered, with Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson saying that there was “no appetite” for another bill funding assistance.
Underscoring the political divide, Musk called Kelly a “traitor” on X.com, a social media platform Musk owns, after Kelly posted that he had visited Ukraine during the weekend and accused Trump of trying to weaken Ukraine ahead of peace talks.
Kelly, a former astronaut who served as a combat pilot during a 25-year Navy career, commented to reporters when asked about Musk, “Obviously, he’s not a serious guy.”
On X, Kelly had responded: “Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”
Kelly’s trip was his third visit to Ukraine since 2023.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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