11:47 04.03.2025

Trump suspends military aid to Ukraine – media

3 min read
Trump suspends military aid to Ukraine – media
Photo: https://www.president.gov.ua/

President Donald Trump is ordering that US military aid to Ukraine to be paused after his spat with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Friday, Bloomberg has reported.

The United States is halting all current military aid to Ukraine until Trump determines the country's leaders demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace, a senior defense official said.

The official said all U.S. military equipment that is not currently in Ukraine will be suspended, including weapons in transit on planes and ships, or waiting in transit zones in Poland. Trump ordered Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to pause, the official said.

Bloomberg notes that the US president is pushing for a quick deal to end the war that has been going on for three years. But when Zelenskyy demanded security guarantees in the Oval Office last week to ensure that Russia does not violate the agreements, Trump angrily told him to come back when he is ready for peace.

That, in turn, has forced European allies to rush plans to supply Ukraine with weapons and peacekeepers under the deal. But Europe lacks many other weapons and capabilities that the U.S. is now providing. Allied officials have said the arms supplies will likely last only until the summer.

The publication says that it is not yet clear to what extent Trump's order will affect the amount of aid. He took office with $3.85 billion in money left over from the previous administration in the form of the so-called presidential authority to reduce U.S. stockpiles. At this point, it is unclear whether the Trump administration will actually use this money for Ukraine, especially given that U.S. weapons stockpiles are running low and need to be replenished.

Monday’s decision also goes beyond simply cutting off funding, jeopardizing aid that is already being delivered or in progress. That includes critical munitions, hundreds of multiple-launch rocket systems and anti-tank weapons, and other capabilities. Ending existing contracts with industry could also require the U.S. to pay some form of break fee to companies that have begun fulfilling the orders.

The United States and Ukraine were supposed to sign a deal that would have allowed the United States to receive a significant share of future revenues from Ukraine's natural resource extraction, but after Friday's meeting, the agreement appears to have fallen apart, according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, the White House confirms the cancellation of military aid supplies to Ukraine, CNN reports.

“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 official said.

Another official said the pause would apply to all military equipment that is not provided to Ukraine.

The pause is a direct response to what Trump sees as Zelenskyy's poor behavior last week, the official said. They noted that the pause could be lifted if Zelenskyy demonstrates a new commitment to talks to end the war in Ukraine.

AD