Trump administration officials confirmed Wednesday that the White House paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine in its war against Russia as part of a broader review of assistance to Kyiv.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and national security adviser Michael Waltz both said the U.S. had paused intelligence sharing in addition to military aid. While critics argued those moves would severely hamper Ukraine’s ability to fend off invading Russian forces, both Trump officials expressed optimism that negotiations would resume shortly with Ukraine on a path to ending the war.
“We have taken a step back, and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” Waltz told reporters.
“But I just got off the phone before I walked out here with my counterpart, the Ukrainian national security advisor. We are having good talks on location for the next round of negotiations, on delegations, on substance,” he added, predicting there would be “movement in very short order.”
Ratcliffe, speaking on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business Network, said the Trump administration’s pause was intended to make Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rethink whether he was interested in engaging in peace talks to end the war.
Ratcliffe suggested Zelensky’s conciliatory message on Monday, in which he said Ukrainians wanted peace and were ready to sign a minerals deal with the U.S., showed the approach was effective.
“I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed that to happen I think will go away, and I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that’s there, but to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward,” Ratcliffe said.
President Trump has been pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine, speaking with both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Trump and Zelensky clashed at an Oval Office meeting last week, prompting the U.S. to cut off aid to Ukraine.
Trump sounded a more welcoming note during an address to Congress on Tuesday, citing the Ukrainian leader’s outreach.
