White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said in an interview Wednesday that the U.S. will lift its pause on aid to Ukraine when the country sets peace talks with Russia.
Waltz said he has talked to Ukrainian officials about possible dates and locations for peace talks between the two countries.
"If we can nail down these negotiations and move toward these negotiations and put confidence building measures on the table, [President Donald Trump] will take a hard look at lifting this pause … Yesterday and today [were] a positive step forward," Waltz said.
Trump paused all military aid to Ukraine following his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
"The president has been clear that he is focused on peace," a White House official said Monday. "We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution."
Axios reported information the U.S. had provided focused on information that could help Ukraine conduct attacks inside Russian territory. A source told Axios the pause in intelligence sharing is what convinced Zelenskyy to put out a statement where he expressed regret for his confrontation with Trump.
The lack of intelligence sharing has already had a negative effect on Ukraine's war operations, according to Axios.
"President Trump had a real question about whether President Zelenskyy is committed to a peace process," CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in an interview. "He said let's pause. I want to give you a chance to think about this, and you saw the response, President Zelenskyy put out a statement saying, 'I am ready for peace.'"
Ratcliffe said the United States remains committed to working alongside Ukraine.
"We have to push back on the aggression that is there but to put the world at a better place for this peace negotiations to move forward," Ratcliffe said.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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