US President Donald Trump has paused military aid to Ukraine following his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, a White House official said, deepening the fissure that has opened between the two allies.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “The president has been clear that he is focused on peace.
“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.”
The White House had no immediate comment on the scope and amount of aid affected or how long the pause would last.
The Pentagon could not provide further details.
Mr Zelensky’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment nor did the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington.
The move comes after Mr Trump upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia upon taking office in January, adopting a more conciliatory stance towards Russia.
It also follows a confrontation with Mr Zelensky at the White House on Friday in which Mr Trump criticised him for being insufficiently grateful for Washington’s backing in the war with Russia.
The US president said yesterday that such a pause had not yet been discussed, but did not rule it out.
He also suggested that Mr Zelensky “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Russia.
Mr Trump reiterated that Mr Zelensky should be more appreciative of American support after earlier responding to an Associated Press report quoting the Ukrainian president as saying the end of the war is “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!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social, using an alternative spelling of the Ukrainian leader’s name.
The US Congress has approved $175 billion (€166 billion) in total assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The Trump administration inherited $3.85 billion worth of Congressionally-approved authority to dip into US arms stocks for Ukraine, but given the growing row between Washington and Kyiv, it was already unlikely for that assistance to be used.
The halt goes beyond the no-new aid stance Mr Trump had taken since assuming office – and appears to halt deliveries of military equipment approved by his predecessor Joe Biden, including munitions, missiles and other systems.
Mr Trump has not approved any new aid under his own presidential authority since taking office and a new congressional aid package appears unlikely, at least in the near term.
But Mr Trump also suggested that a deal to open up Ukraine’s minerals to US investment could still be agreed despite his frustration with Kyiv, as European leaders floated proposals for a truce in Russia’s war with its neighbour.
The Trump administration views a minerals deal as the United States’ way of earning back some of the tens of billions of dollars it has given to Ukraine in financial and military aid since Russia invaded three years ago.
When asked yesterday if the deal was dead, Mr Trump said at the White House: “No, I don’t think so.”
The US president described it as a “great deal for us” and said he would give an update on the situation when he addresses a joint session of Congress.
US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that giving the US an economic interest in the future of Ukraine will serve as a security guarantee.
“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,” Mr Vance said in the interview.
“That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years,” he added in reference to an offer by some European nations to send personnel to Ukraine in the event of a truce.
Mr Zelensky has made clear that a ceasefire must carry explicit security guarantees from the West to ensure that Russia, which holds about 20% of its land, does not attack again.
Mr Trump has refused to give any such guarantees.
US assistance to Ukraine includes military aid and budgetary assistance – largely delivered through a World Bank trust fund and other funds that had been delivered through the US Agency for International Development, which has been impacted by the Trump administration.
Some of the money sent by the US to Ukraine helps the country pay salaries of teachers, doctors and keeps the government running, allowing it to focus on fighting Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine weapons assistance from the US has been facilitated through two programmes: Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the president to quickly transfer weapons and equipment from US stocks to foreign countries without the need for congressional approval and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) where military equipment is procured from the defence industry.
In total the US has pledged $31.7 billion (€30 billion) worth of weapons aid to Ukraine through PDA.
