(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump ordered a pause to all military aid to Ukraine, turning up the heat on Volodymyr Zelenskiy days after an Oval Office blowup with the Ukrainian president left support from his country’s most important ally in doubt.
The US is holding up all pending military assistance until Trump determines Ukraine’s leaders demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace, according to a senior Defense Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The administration will also review the aid to make sure it’s contributing to a solution to the conflict, a White House official said.
The order applies to all US military equipment not currently in Ukraine, including weapons in transit on aircraft and ships or waiting in transit areas in Poland. While the extent of the affected weapons isn’t immediately known, Trump had inherited from former President Joe Biden the authority to deliver $3.85 billion in weapons from US stockpiles.
Trump is eager for a quick deal to end the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor three years ago. But when Zelenskiy pushed in an Oval Office meeting last week for security guarantees to ensure Russia doesn’t violate any agreement, Trump angrily told him to come back when he’s ready for peace. The two sides scrapped plans for a mineral-resources deal that was seen as a possible precursor to a ceasefire.
That sent European allies racing to come up with plans to keep Ukraine supplied with weapons, as well to provide peacekeeping forces for a deal. Yet Europe lacks many of the arms and other capabilities that the US now provides. Allied officials have said supplies of weapons are likely to last only until summer.
The move is a setback for hopes of detente between the two sides. Earlier Monday, Trump had kept the door open to signing the minerals deal with Ukraine, and European leaders expressed hope it could be salvaged.
“It’s a great deal for us,” Trump told reporters, adding that “I’ll let you know tomorrow,” when he addresses a joint session of Congress. He said Zelenskiy “should be more appreciative” of the billions in US assistance his country has received to fight Russia’s invasion.
Vice President JD Vance, who took part in the sharp exchanges with Zelenskiy at the White House last week, told Sean Hannity on Fox News Monday night that “the Russians are going to have to give up stuff. The Ukrainians are going to have to give up stuff.” Vance added, “When they’re willing to talk peace, I think President Trump will be the first person to pick up the phone.”
The leaders of the UK and France, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, are drawing up a temporary ceasefire proposal to present to Trump that would allow detailed talks to begin for a durable long-term peace plan. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the aid pause could be part of Trump’s calculus.
Defense-related stocks rallied across the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday, with analysts saying regional companies may be major beneficiaries of increased demand from Europe. South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace Co. and Hyundai Rotem Co. shares jumped more than 11% while IHI Corp. gained nearly 7% in Tokyo.
The European leaders believe that Trump is trying to mount pressure on Zelenskiy to apologize and sign the minerals agreement, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing the deliberations.
The UK and France are privately urging Zelenskiy to repair relations with Trump and believe the US leader is still committed to a peace deal, they said. European allies believe that Zelenskiy may need to grovel to Trump because a simple apology is unlikely to suffice, one of the people said.
The UK-France plan involves an initial truce between Russia and Ukraine to allow allies to work on a durable peace plan with a coalition of European troops backed by US security guarantees. It would also allow time to see whether Russia is serious about ending its aggression toward Ukraine, the people said.
“The problem with all these discussions is no one’s told me how you get the Russians to the table to negotiate anything or to make any concessions on what their maximal goals are at this point,” said Thomas Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I think we are a long way away from any type of deal, any type of ceasefire.”
Earlier Monday, Zelenskiy expressed a willingness to meet with Trump again, despite Friday’s open confrontation at the White House, if the US president invites him for a “serious” encounter. But Zelenskiy also was quoted as predicting that the end of Ukraine’s war with Russia is “very, very far away.”
“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 social media post. He said “this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
Earlier: Trump Keeps Door Open to Ukraine Deal With Europe Now Optimistic
Even before Trump suspended Ukraine aid on Monday, it was unclear whether his administration would use the $3.85 billion in funding Biden’s administration left behind, particularly given that US weapons stockpiles are running low and need to be replenished.
“Stopping support for Ukraine would jeopardize the stability of Europe and the free world,” Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, said on X. “There are strong opinions on both sides of this issue, and I respect that. However, we must be pragmatic about the bigger picture and protect America’s interests abroad.”
The freeze on aid already en route to Ukraine includes the delivery of critical munitions, hundreds of guided multiple launch rocket systems and anti-tank weapons and other capabilities.
Cutting off existing contracts with industry may also require the US to pay some form of cancellation fee to companies that have started filling the orders.
--With assistance from Ellen Milligan, Alex Wickham, Samy Adghirni, Iain Marlow, Akayla Gardner, Sangmi Cha and Jon Herskovitz.
