President Donald Trump has paused assistance to Kiev to wait for a good faith peace effort, multiple officials have said
Washington has paused US aid to Ukraine while reviewing whether or not to continue, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has said.
She made the statement in a press conference on Wednesday, when asked by a journalist if the aid freeze was permanent.
“The National Security Council told me… they paused or they are reconsidering the funding for Ukraine,” Leavitt replied.
“It’s a pause for a review,” she elaborated when asked a second time.
The US suspended military assistance to Ukraine after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last week culminated in a shouting match. Trump later accused Zelensky of not being truly interested in making peace with Russia, rather aiming to get Washington “signed up and keep fighting.”
US intelligence sharing with Ukraine has similarly been brought to a stop, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed to Fox Business on Wednesday when asked whether Washington “cut off” cooperation with Kiev. Trump had “asked for a pause” to see if Ukraine was ready to work towards peace, he added.
“President Trump had a real question whether… Zelensky was committed to a peace process,” Ratcliffe explained.
When asked about the military aid freeze to Kiev, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz likewise told Fox News on Wednesday that Trump would examine lifting the pause “if we can nail down these negotiations.”
The day before, Zelensky took a u-turn on years of denying negotiations with Russia and declared himself ready for an immediate ceasefire in a lengthy post on X.
Kiev is ready to move to end the conflict through an immediate release of prisoners, temporary ceasefire and a ban on long-range strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure, he wrote.
Moscow has repeatedly said that it has always been ready to return to the negotiating table, pointing out that Zelensky signed a decree banning talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon after the escalation of the conflict in 2022.
However, Russia has underscored that it wants a permanent, stable peace and considers a temporary ceasefire unacceptable, stressing that the time would simply be used to rearm Ukraine for further hostilities.
