Trump Pauses U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine to Pressure Zelensky Into Deal
Donald Trump ordered a “pause” on U.S. military aid to Ukraine on Monday, hoping to push Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky into agreeing to a peace deal with Russia.
The move comes only days after a contentious meeting between Trump, JD Vance, and Zelensky in the Oval Office, which saw the U.S. leaders berating Zelensky, claiming that he was ungrateful for their help. The Trump administration has now apparently paused all military aid until the Ukrainian government is “committed” to the goal of peace.
“President Trump has been clear that he is focused on peace,” a White House official told Fox News on Monday night. “We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”
They added that the decision is “not permanent termination of aid, it’s a pause.” “The orders are going out right now,” the official confirmed. According to Fox News, the official said the move was “in response to Zelensky’s conduct over the last week.”
Trump himself has not commented on the decision, however earlier on Monday the president responded on Truth Social to a headline of Zelensky saying the end of the war was “very, very far away.”
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote. “It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
Zelensky clarified the headline, noting on X that “it is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”
“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” he wrote. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security. We are working together with America and our European partners and very much hope on US support on the path to peace. Peace is needed as soon as possible.”
Zelensky was invited to the White House on Friday for a meeting that was broadcast around the world. The meeting was designed to reach an economic agreement focused on giving the United States access to rare-earth mineral deposits in the war-torn country. Zelensky was also hoping to get security guarantees from Washington, as the Trump administration pushes ahead with efforts to reconcile with Russia and start negotiations aimed at bringing the war in Ukraine to an end.
Things took a turn when Trump and Vance spent most of the meeting shouting aggressively at Zelensky. During the conversation, Trump claimed that Ukraine owes the United States “$500 billion,” saying that this was the amount of military aid Washington had provided to Kyiv. The true amount of aid provided is closer to $115 billion.
On Monday night, Vance appeared on Fox News to discuss Friday’s White House exchange. “If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Vance told host Sean Hannity. He added, “What is the actual plan here? You can’t just fund the war forever. The American people won’t stand for that.”
Several U.S. politicians and other world leaders have responded to Trump’s decision. Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, co-chair of the Congressional EU Caucus, said in a statement, “Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally pause funding for Ukraine is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security.”
He continued, “This aid was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis — Republicans and Democrats alike recognized that standing with Ukraine is standing for democracy and against Putin’s aggression. Yet, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and undermined our allies, is now playing political games with critical military assistance.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, a Ukrainian member of parliament in President Zelensky’s party, told the BBC, “It’s unbelievable what’s unfolding because I couldn’t imagine in my worst dreams that Trump would be cutting off military aid to Ukraine when we need it so much.”
Merezhko added, “I think Mr. Trump should seriously think about how he’s going to enter in history. To me it’s a date that will go down in history infamy.”
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