President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky get into a heated discussion Friday in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington D.C. On Monday, the Trump administration ordered a “pause” on military aid to Ukraine, according to White House officials. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI |
License PhotoMarch 3 (UPI) — President Donald Trump ordered a temporary “pause” on military aid to Ukraine on Monday, according to White House officials, following Friday’s heated Oval Office exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“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,” one unnamed official told CNN, ABC News and The New York Times. Another official said the temporary pause applies to $1 billion in military equipment that is on order.
On Friday, a 45-minute White House meeting between the two leaders, to sign an economic deal on natural resources from Ukraine in exchange for continued U.S. support and the eventual end of its three-year war with Russia, ended with no signing, no lunch and no joint news conference.
Vice President JD Vance called Zelensky “disrespectful” for trying to negotiate the deal before the media and not thanking Trump publicly.
“The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy,” Vance said, to which Zelensky fired back, “What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about?”
After the meeting Trump said, “This is going to be great television. We’ll see about putting a deal together.”
On Saturday, Zelensky thanked the United States for supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia and called for a minerals deal.
“I’m thankful to President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support and the American people,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X. “Ukrainians have always appreciated this support, especially during these three years of full-scale invasion.”
The differences between the two leaders in the negotiations stem from Zelensky’s demand that any peace agreement include security guarantees by the United States, which Trump has declined to provide.
“It’s not enough,” Zelensky said. “We need more than that. A cease-fire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine.”
As Zelensky talked to European leaders Saturday, following the contentious Oval Office meeting, he found more support. The Ukrainian president secured a $2.8 billion loan from the Britain during a weekend meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to pay for weapons production.
Zelensky also attended a European summit in London on Sunday.
“Europe’s unity is at an exceptionally high level, one that has not been seen in a long time,” Zelensky said. “We are discussing with our partners security guarantees and the conditions for a just peace in Ukraine. A series of important meetings and decisions are being prepared for the near future.”
Despite receiving strong support from Europe, Zelensky said over the weekend that the end of Ukraine’s war with Russia remains “very, very far away.”
Trump called Zelensky’s statement “the worst” in terms of showing strength against Russia.
“This guy does not want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing, and Europe in the meeting they had with Zelensky stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the United States,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
According to White House officials, the decision to pause military aid is part of a pressure tactic on Ukraine to resume peace negotiations. The Trump administration is also seeking a public apology from Zelensky before renewing talks on the minerals deal.
