The Trump administration is considering pausing all military aid to Ukraine, a senior White House official told the Washington Post on Friday.
The anonymous officials said that the pending decision would halt billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition, and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine.
Zelensky had come to Washington to sign a controversial critical minerals deal, wherein Ukraine would open up its vast mineral wealth to the United States. Still, it did not include American security guarantees, a disappointment for Ukraine.
It gives Washington the right to recoup some of the billions of dollars in costs of the US weaponry supplied to Kyiv through a reconstruction investment fund tied to the sale of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.
During the meeting, Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for America’s financial and military support during the war.
Ukraine not ready for peace?
“You’re either going make a deal or we’re out,” Trump said. “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out, and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
“You don’t have the cards. Once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.”
In a later post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he believed that Ukraine was not ready for peace.
“I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.
The anonymous senior administration official noted that he believed that Trump and Vance’s barrage on Zelensky was not pre-planned. He pointed to the administration’s efforts to create a more positive tone for the meeting, including the fact that Trump dropped his previous statement that Zelensky was a “dictator” before Friday.
Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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