President Donald Trump paused all military aid to Ukraine on Monday in the wake of the clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
The Trump administration believes that Zelenskyy has not effectively sought an end to the conflict and has not recognized its limited bargaining position in ending the three-year war with Russia.
“President Trump has been clear that he is focused on peace,” an unnamed White House official said in a statement about the hiatus, according to Reuters.
“We need our partners to be committed to that goal, as well,” the official added.
“We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”
Reports about a pause in foreign aid to Ukraine had circulated earlier on Monday.
The move to temporarily halt military aid came shortly after Trump blasted Zelenskyy for saying that peace with Russia is “very, very far away.
“An agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet. The peace that we foresee in the future must be just, honest, and most importantly, sustainable” Zelenskky said during a news conference on Sunday in the United Kingdom, the Associated Press reported.
“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.
Should Trump continue to provide aid to Ukraine?
“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 Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S.,” the commander-in-chief added.
“Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
The United States has been the most significant single foreign backer of the Ukrainian war effort over the past three years.
One federal interagency group estimates the figure of total aid to be $183 billion as of Dec. 31, while European Union institutions have contributed $52.1 billion and individual European countries have offered a collective $60.4 billion.
Trump, along with Vice President J.D. Vance, publicly disagreed with Zelenskyy’s approach toward ending the war during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, asserting that Zelenskyy fails to recognize that the current situation is not in his favor.
“Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance told Zelenskyy.
Zelensky sought to object, at which point Trump said, “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.”
“You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump added.
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