- President Donald Trump is pausing all military aid to Ukraine.
- The halting of aid affects all military equipment that has not reached Ukraine yet.
- The pause comes after Trump sparred with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Friday.
President Donald Trump said that he would pause military aid to Ukraine, days after he clashed with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office.
A White House official told Business Insider in a written statement that: “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.”
Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, said in a statement sent to BI that the decision was driven by Trump’s view that Russia is willing to strike a peace deal, while Ukraine stands in the way.
“But there is no evidence that Russia would be prepared to accept a deal, and what that would be,” he said, adding: “This decision will encourage Putin to ask for more — including Ukrainian demilitarization and neutrality.”
Mark Cancian, a senior advisor on defense and security at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told BI the aid pause would effectively halve Ukraine’s total equipment intake and severely weaken its ability to fight.
“That’s very serious because even with all the aid they were receiving previously, they were barely hanging on,” Cancian said.
“My guess is if US aid does not restart, then Ukrainians could hold out two to four months,” Cancian added. “But by four months, I think their front lines will crack, and they’ll have to make some sort of deal.”
Edward Hunter Christie, a former NATO official and a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told BI that Ukraine’s most immediate concern is weaponry like interceptors for its Patriot batteries.
“We will see negative impacts soon,” he said. “The question is how much.”
Minerals deal in the balance
Discussions in the Oval Office escalated into a war of words on Friday between Vice President JD Vance, Trump, and Zelenskyy.
During the televised meeting, Trump accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War III” and was being “disrespectful” to the US.
Vance then accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful or thanking the US sufficiently for the military aid it had provided.
The US has provided $65.9 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, per the State Department. Zelenskyy has, on multiple occasions, thanked the US for its help.
Zelenskyy left the White House on Friday without signing a minerals deal with the US that had been under discussion. On Sunday, Zelenskyy said he remains “ready to sign” the agreement.
Trump said in early February that he wanted Ukraine to give the US access to valuable minerals in exchange for continuing to aid its war efforts.
On February 26, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said they’d agreed on a deal. Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House was supposed to include a deal-signing ceremony in which the two leaders would cement the agreement.
However, it did not turn out that way.
In the meantime, European leaders have rallied around Zelenskyy and Ukraine.
Keir Starmer, the UK’s prime minister, welcomed Zelenskyy to 10 Downing Street on Saturday with an embrace and said that Ukraine has the UK’s “full backing.”
