"We are thankful that intelligence works now, and I'm speaking about early warning, which is very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can hear when ballistic is coming," Mr Zelensky said. "So we are thankful to American side now that it works."
Mr Zelensky said the change came after talks with American counterparts, including the call with Mr Rubio, who is travelling in Asia. He described "a substantive conversation" and wrote on social media: "I am grateful for his readiness to help and his clear position."
The comments came as Mr Zelensky visited Oslo for talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. US envoy Steve Witkoff, who along with Jared Kushner has tried without success to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement and end the war, was also expected in the Norwegian capital. Mr Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, was to attend by video conference.
Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured again over the pace of support. Mr Zelensky told a bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Monday that he believes "some political decision has been made to slow down ... support for us". He said Ukraine has nearly run out of American-made Patriot air defence interceptors needed to stop Russia's ballistic missiles, and that the Pentagon is delaying delivery of missiles other countries have purchased for Ukraine. He also said Kyiv received no, or late, warnings about recent Russian missile attacks, and that speed restrictions remain on its use of the military-grade version of SpaceX's Starlink service, hampering battlefield operations. Mr Zelensky criticised Mr Trump's waiver of sanctions on Russia, saying it helps President Vladimir Putin push on with the invasion, which reaches its fifth anniversary in February.
On the ground, seven people were killed and 31 wounded in Russian missile and drone attacks on the Kyiv region over the past day, regional police said. Three died in the Obukhiv district, where warehouses were damaged. In the Bucha district, one woman was killed and 21 people wounded, eight of them children, with hundreds of buildings damaged. On Tuesday morning, three people died when two vehicles caught fire in an attack on the Kyiv-Odesa motorway; the dead included the driver of a shuttle bus that carries people to the national military memorial cemetery. Two more people were killed in an attack on warehouses on the outskirts of Dnipro. In the Odesa region, energy facilities were struck overnight, causing power outages in some areas, said Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration; no one was injured.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces carried out drone strikes on logistics centres, port infrastructure and three cargo ships in the port of Reni in the Odesa region, and that another bulk carrier was hit at sea on its way to Odesa. Moscow also said air defences intercepted 136 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions overnight, and that a fire broke out at an industrial facility in the Tambov region, according to governor Yevgeny Pervyshov.
With the Russian army held up on the front line, Mr Putin is trying to bomb Ukraine into submission while robbing it of US support, Western leaders and analysts say. European countries are trying to take up the slack of any fall-off in American supplies, but some key assets are American-made.