After again slamming Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, President Trump ordered a pause on US military assistance to Ukraine to help it battle Russia's invasion. Administration officials called the extraordinary action an attempt to pressure Zelensky to agree to peace talks with Russia, the Washington Post reports. "The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well," a White House official said, adding that aid will be paused "to ensure that it is contributing to a solution." The order goes into effect immediately, per the New York Times, and applies to arms and ammunition on the way and on order totaling hundreds of million of dollars.
Trump earlier in the day had criticized Ukraine's president for saying a deal to end the war is "very far away." In a post on Truth Social, Trump said it was the "worst statement" Zelensky could have made, "America will not put up with it for much longer!" and "This guy doesn't want there to be Peace as long as he has America's backing." He doubled down on his remarks at a White House news conference hours later, saying Russia wants to make a deal and "certainly, the people of Ukraine want to make a deal," per the Post. "Now, maybe somebody doesn't want to make a deal, and if somebody doesn't want to make a deal, I think that person won't be around very long," Trump said. "That person will not be listened to very long."
Zelensky made the statement Sunday after a summit with European leaders in London because a European-led plan is in the early stages. But he said he believes there is a "strong enough partnership" with the US for support to continue despite the disagreement with Trump, the BBC reports. Also, Zelensky said he was still ready to sign a minerals deal with the US. Trump said that he hadn't given up on the "great deal" and that he will speak about it during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, the AP reports.
story continues below
Trump said he spoke to numerous European leaders over the weekend about ending the war, CNN reports. "Most of them are friends of mine, the heads of state, the heads of the various countries," he said. "Four prime ministers and five presidents called me over the last two days, and they want to work it out." The White House said late Monday that the decision to hold up aid could be reversed if Zelensky makes a good-faith effort to participate in peace talks. In 2019, Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine as he tried to pressure Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. That led to Trump's first impeachment, per the AP.
This file has been updated with the pause on US aid. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
