Trump pauses aid to Ukraine after Zelensky clash

Russia said on Tuesday the suspension of U.S. aid to Ukraine following a public clash between their leaders, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, was the best contribution to ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

"If the United States stops (military supplies), this would probably be the best contribution to peace," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that it was a "solution which could really push the Kyiv regime to a peace process".

Trump on Monday directed a "pause" to U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Zelensky to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.

The move comes just days after a disastrous Oval Office meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance tore into Zelensky for what they perceived as insufficient gratitude for the more than $180 billion U.S. has appropriated for military aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal and wants Zelensky "committed" to that goal. The official added that the U.S. was "pausing and reviewing" its aid to "ensure that it is contributing to a solution." The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.

The order will remain in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations with Russia, the official said.

The halting of military aid comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine as he sought to pressure Zelensky to launch an investigation into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump's first impeachment.

In the leadup to the 2024 election, Trump vowed a quick end to the war in Ukraine, even once boasting that he could bring a halt to the fighting in one day. He has shown increasing frustration with Zelensky over the war while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has long admired, can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce is reached.

Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelensky for suggesting that the end of the war likely "is still very, very far away." Zelensky had suggested it would take time to come to an agreement to end the war as he tried to offer a positive take on the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week's White House meeting.

"This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, responding to comments Zelensky made late Sunday to reporters.

Trump, at a White House event later Monday, referred to Zelensky's reported comments and asserted the Ukrainian leader "better not be right about that."

Zelensky later took to social media in an effort to further explain his thinking. He did not directly refer to Trump's comments, but underscored that it "is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible."

"We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns," Zelensky added. "We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security."

Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelensky's visit last week that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine's critical minerals in part to pay back the U.S. for aid it has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House had billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term.

Vance, in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that aired Monday evening, said European allies were doing Ukraine a disservice by not pressing Zelensky to find an endgame to the war.

"A lot of our European friends puff him up," Vance said. "They say, you know, you're a freedom fighter. You need to keep fighting forever. Well, fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition and with whose lives?"

Democrats said the pausing of aid to Ukraine was dangerous and ill-advised.

Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who is co-chair of the Congressional EU Caucus, said the decision "is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security."

The Biden administration provided Kyiv with more than $66.5 billion in military aid and weapons since the war began. It had left unspent about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding to send more weapons to Ukraine from existing U.S. stockpiles — a sum that had not been affected by the foreign aid freeze that Trump put in place when he first took office.

"This aid was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis — Republicans and Democrats alike recognized that standing with Ukraine is standing for democracy and against Putin's aggression," Boyle said in a statement. "Yet, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and undermined our allies, is now playing political games with critical military assistance."

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, said the pausing of aid was "another extortion" of Zelensky.

"This is the exact opposite of peace through strength," Goldman said. "Instead, what it is is it's another extortion of President Zelensky, illegally withholding aid in order to get President Zelensky to agree to a minerals deal."

Trump's national security adviser said Zelensky's posture during Friday's Oval Office talks "put up in the air" whether he's someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward.

"Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?" Mike Waltz said Monday on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?"

Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelensky is becoming untenable.

Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelensky and between Europe and the U.S. about the way ahead.

"He thinks Russia is winning. ... And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured," said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Trump on Monday suggested he hasn't given up on the economic pact, calling it "a great deal." He added that he expected to speak about the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, earlier Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track.

Key GOP senators also indicated before the announcement of paused aid that they see a path to put U.S.-Ukraine relations back on track.

"We got to lower the temperature," said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., "and get to a deal that's economically beneficial and takes care of our interests as well as the interests of the Ukrainian people."

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who is a close ally of Trump, said he believes the president and Zelensky can "move past it."

"Getting the minerals deal done is a first step," Mullin said. After that, he said, Zelensky needs to be "realistic on what a peace deal looks like."