(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump ordered a pause to all US military aid to Ukraine, turning up the heat on Volodymyr Zelenskiy days after an Oval Office blowup with the Ukrainian president left support from his country’s most important ally in doubt.
The US is holding up all pending military assistance until Trump determines Ukraine’s leaders demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace, according to a senior Defense Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The administration will also review the aid to make sure it’s contributing to a solution to the conflict, a White House official said.
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The order applies to all US military equipment not currently in Ukraine, including weapons in transit on aircraft and ships or waiting in transit areas in Poland. While the extent of the affected weapons isn’t immediately known, Trump had inherited from former President Joe Biden the authority to deliver $3.85 billion in weapons from US stockpiles.
Trump is eager for a quick deal to end the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor three years ago. But when Zelenskiy pushed last week for security guarantees to ensure Russia doesn’t violate any agreement, Trump angrily told him to come back when he’s ready for peace. A mineral-resources deal that was seen as a possible precursor to a ceasefire was left unsigned.
The freeze on aid en route to Ukraine includes the delivery of critical munitions, hundreds of guided multiple launch rocket systems and anti-tank weapons and other capabilities. Ukraine relies on the US for its air defense as Russia bombards its former Soviet partner with missiles and drones. Only US Patriot missile-defense systems are capable of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles, including the Kinzhal.
The US move blindsided European allies, who were not consulted, according to Poland’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. Senior British officials were unaware of the plan as of late Monday, despite a series of phone calls between members of the UK and US cabinet in recent days.
The Ukrainian parliament’s national security and defense committee held a closed-door meeting to discuss the halt of US military aid, RBC-Ukraine news wire reported, citing lawmaker Fedir Venislavskyi. The main task now is to find ways to substitute US-supplied air defenses as well as American precise long-range artillery, he said.
European allies have been racing to come up with plans to keep Ukraine supplied with weapons, as well as to provide peacekeeping forces for a deal. Yet Europe lacks many of the arms and other capabilities that the US now provides. Allied officials have said supplies of weapons are likely to last only until summer.
The European Union is meanwhile proposing extending €150 billion ($158 billion) in loans to boost defense spending, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels on Tuesday.
A key factor left out of the conversation is that there is no indication Russian leader Vladimir Putin has any serious intention to negotiate a realistic peace settlement, European officials say. His red line is that Ukraine is neutral and it remains unclear whether he would countenance western troops on the ground in the country, despite Trump’s comments that he would. It isn’t obvious how the US, Ukraine or Europe could agree to those terms, they say.
The Kremlin said the Trump administration’s move to cut off aid could push Ukraine to the negotiating table. “We have yet to learn the details, but if this is true, this really is a decision that could encourage” Kyiv toward the peace process, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. He also said it was too early to speak about a potential easing of US sanctions on Russia.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who hosted Zelenskiy and fellow European leaders at the weekend and has been in regular contact with Trump, was asked earlier Monday about the prospect of the US withdrawing military aid from Ukraine. Starmer told the House of Commons that he had not seen such reports about the Trump administration’s plans and that “as I understand it, that is not its position.”
The move is a setback for hopes of detente between the US and Ukraine. Earlier on Monday, Trump had kept the door open to signing the minerals deal, and European leaders expressed hope it could be salvaged.
“It’s a great deal for us,” Trump told reporters, adding that “I’ll let you know tomorrow,” when he addresses a joint session of Congress. He said Zelenskiy “should be more appreciative” of the billions in US assistance his country has received to fight Russia’s invasion.
Vice President JD Vance, who took part in the sharp exchanges with Zelenskiy at the White House last week, told Sean Hannity on Fox News Monday night that “the Russians are going to have to give up stuff. The Ukrainians are going to have to give up stuff.” Vance added, “When they’re willing to talk peace, I think President Trump will be the first person to pick up the phone.”
Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are drawing up a temporary ceasefire proposal to present to Trump that would allow detailed talks to begin for a durable long-term peace plan. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the aid pause could be part of Trump’s calculus. Vance, however, was dismissive of the European troop plans in his Fox interview.
Defense stocks rose for a second day on the prospect of a surge in spending by European countries. The sector is up nearly 20% so far this week.
The UK and France are privately urging Zelenskiy to repair relations with Trump and believe the US leader is still committed to a peace deal, they said. European allies believe that Zelenskiy may need to grovel to Trump because a simple apology is unlikely to suffice, one of the people said.
The UK-France plan involves an initial truce between Russia and Ukraine to allow allies to work on a durable peace plan with a coalition of European troops backed by US security guarantees. It would also allow time to see whether Russia is serious about ending its aggression toward Ukraine, the people said.
“The problem with all these discussions is no one’s told me how you get the Russians to the table to negotiate anything or to make any concessions on what their maximal goals are at this point,” said Thomas Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I think we are a long way away from any type of deal, any type of ceasefire.”
Zelenskiy has expressed a willingness to meet with Trump again, if the US president invites him for a “serious” encounter. But Zelenskiy was also quoted as predicting that the end of Ukraine’s war with Russia 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!” Trump said in a social media post.
Earlier: Trump Keeps Door Open to Ukraine Deal With Europe Now Optimistic
Even before Trump suspended Ukraine aid, it was unclear whether his administration would use the $3.85 billion in funding Biden’s administration left behind, particularly given that US weapons stockpiles are running low and need to be replenished.
“Stopping support for Ukraine would jeopardize the stability of Europe and the free world,” Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, said on X.
–With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Chursina, Milda Seputyte, Alex Morales, Blaise Robinson, Ellen Milligan, Alex Wickham, Samy Adghirni, Iain Marlow, Akayla Gardner, Sangmi Cha and Jon Herskovitz.
(Updates with supplies affected, Ukrainian lawmaker starting in fifth paragraph)
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