Trump pauses US military aid to Ukraine while pressuring Zelenskyy to
move toward quick end to war
[March 04, 2025]
By AAMER MADHANI, ZEKE MILLER and LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to
U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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 Zelenskyy 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 Zelenskyy “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 Zelenskyy 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 Zelenskyy
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 Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of
the war likely “is still very, very far away.” Zelenskyy 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 Zelenskyy, and
America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post
on his Truth Social platform, responding to comments Zelenskyy made late
Sunday to reporters.
Trump, at a White House event later Monday, referred to Zelenskyy's
reported comments and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right
about that.”
Zelenskyy 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,” Zelenskyy 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 Zelenskyy’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 Zelenskyy 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.”
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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, is greeted by
President Donald Trump, center, as he arrives at the White House in
Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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 Zelenskyy.
“This is the exact opposite of peace through strength,” Goldman
said. “Instead, what it is is it’s another extortion of President
Zelenskyy, illegally withholding aid in order to get President
Zelenskyy to agree to a minerals deal."
Trump's national security adviser said Zelenskyy’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 Zelenskyy 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
Zelenskyy 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 Zelenskyy'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 Zelenskyy can “move past
it.”
“Getting the minerals deal done is a first step,” Mullin said. After
that, he said, Zelenskyy needs to be “realistic on what a peace deal
looks like.”
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Associated Press writers Tracy Brown, Lolita C. Baldor and Marc Levy
contributed to this report.
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