Donald Trump has paused U.S. aid to Ukraine a few days after berating the war-torn country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, for not being—in his view—sufficiently thankful for U.S. support.
“The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well,” a White House official said in a statement, according to The Hill. “We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”
Bloomberg News was the first to report on the sudden pause.
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After Friday’s meeting, which resulted in the cancellation of a press conference and the anticipated signing of a deal linking Ukrainian minerals for U.S. financial support, Trump insisted Zelensky could return to the White House when he is “ready for peace.”
Trump’s allies have been pressuring Zelensky to alter his approach to Trump, who has claimed to want to quickly end the war. Earlier Monday, Trump criticized his counterpart for suggesting late Sunday while in London that the war’s end is likely “still very, very far away.”
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Zelensky “better not be right about that,” Trump told reporters during a White House event later Monday.
“If somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long,” he added. “That person will not be listened to very long.”
Zelensky, as he did after Friday’s contentious meeting to emphasize his gratitude, then took to social media to say that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”
The decision to pause military aid was made at a White House meeting that included Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, according to The Washington Post.
Hegseth last week ordered the U.S. Cyber Command to pause offensive operations against Russia.
