President Donald Trump has directed his administration to “pause” military assistance to Ukraine after a disputed meeting at the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski on February 28, two White House officials told Abc News.
A White House employee said Trump was clear that he was focused on peace and added: “We need our partners to be engaged for this purpose. We stop and review our help to ensure that it contributes to a solution. “
President Donald Trump spoke in the Roosevelt Roosevelt room in Washington, March 3, 2025.
Leah Milis/Reuters
This move came hours after Trump told ABC News that Zelenskyy should be “more thankful”.
Senior policy correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump on Tuesday: “What should you see from President Zelenski to restart these negotiations?”
“Well, I just think he has to be more thankful, because this country has linger with them through thick and thin,” the president replied.
It is difficult to understand exactly how the pause can affect the flow of pre -provided help.
In the last few months, former President Joe Biden’s administration has announced four packages for the presidential withdrawal of Ukraine.
The packages amount to $ 3 billion weapons from the Pentagon inventory and they were intended to be provided to Ukraine as quickly as possible after the announcements in December and January.
About 90% of the weapons carried out in Ukraine from past PDA packages have already been delivered to the country, according to two US officials familiar with the question.
This includes the majority of critical ammunition and bumper control systems, they say, adding that most of what is left to pass through the pipeline are armored vehicles that take more time to renovate, with all PDA equipment before delivery by August 2025.
However, he is still ready to move from the United States to Ukraine for at least the next few years, which Kiev has signed with private US companies for newly manufactured weapons. Many, if not most of these contracts are paid.
The Trump administration can still try to break these shipments through the use of emergency authorities, but there is no indication that it is trying to do so at the moment.
In addition, there is still a chance to negotiate between the US and Ukraine, as Vice President JD Vance intervened during a Fox News Hannity on Monday.
Vance was asked if the administration would welcome Zelenski if he was ready to return to the negotiating table. Vance said yes – if Zelenski were ready to “engage seriously”.
“I think if he called and there was a serious proposal on how he would get involved in the process – look, there are details that really matter that we are already working with the Russians,” Vance said.
“He has to engage seriously with the details,” he added, though it was not clear whether he strictly refers to the deal for raw minerals that the United States is pursuing with Ukraine, discounts on the ground, or other details that can influence the negotiations.
“I think after this happens, then absolutely, we want to talk,” the vice president said.
The amount of help has already provided Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly claimed, inaccurately, that the United States has spent about $ 350 billion on Ukraine, while other sources put a number of less than $ 200 billion, including bilateral aid.
ABC News Shannon Kingston, Luis Martinez and T. Michel Murphy have contributed to this report.
