Tag: Trump

US President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine on Monday, a White House official said, sharply escalating pressure on Kyiv to agree to peace negotiations with Russia.

The move comes just days after a stunning public clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, who is seeking a rapid end to the war.

Trump earlier on Monday had declined to rule out a pause when quizzed by reporters, but any disruption in the flow of US arms to the front line would rapidly weaken Ukraine’s chance of beating back Russia’s invasion.

“The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well,” a White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” the official added.

Congressional Democrats immediately condemned the pause as dangerous and illegal.

“My Republican colleagues who have called Putin a war criminal and promised their continued support to Ukraine must join me in demanding President Trump immediately lift this disastrous and unlawful freeze,” said Gregory Meeks, top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Trump also warned he would “not put up” much longer with Zelensky’s defiance, and said Ukraine’s leader should be “more appreciative” of US support.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said Zelensky “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.

The pause has gone into effect immediately and impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.

Zelensky for his part said Monday he was seeking for the war to end “as soon as possible.”

The comment came after Zelensky accused Russia — which invaded Ukraine in 2014 and greatly expanded the conflict in 2022 — of not being serious about peace.

He insisted tough security guarantees were the only way to end the war.

But Trump’s stance has upended US support for Ukraine, and Washington’s allies more broadly, and stoked concern about Washington pivoting to Russia.

– European support –

After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure” — potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.

Zelensky said discussions were still focusing on the “first steps,” adding: “An agreement on ending the war is very, very far away” — a comment that angered Trump.

Zelensky added in a video statement that “real, honest peace” would only come with security guarantees for Ukraine, which agreed to denuclearize in 1994 only in exchange for protection provided by the United States and Britain.

“It was the lack of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago that allowed Russia to start with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, then the lack of security guarantees allowed Russia to launch a full-scale invasion,” Zelensky said.

Russia dismissed the comments, accusing him of not wanting peace — echoing US criticism after he was shouted down Friday in the Oval Office.

On the ground, Ukrainian officials reported fatalities from a Russian missile strike on a military training facility some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the front line.

A respected military blogger said between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed and 90 more wounded in the attack near Dnipro on Saturday.

– ‘Deliberate’ escalation? –

Trump has previously called Zelensky, president since 2019, a “dictator” for not holding elections, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war.

Zelensky dismissed calls for him to resign, repeating his pledge to do so only if Ukraine were given NATO membership, which Russia — and now the United States under Trump — opposes.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Zelensky for Friday’s blow-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying he “demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic abilities.”

“He doesn’t want peace,” Peskov told reporters.

On Monday Vance told broadcaster Fox News he was confident Zelensky would “eventually” agree to peace talks with Moscow.

“I think Zelensky wasn’t yet there, and I think, frankly, now still isn’t there,” Vance said. “But I think he’ll get there eventually. He has to.”

But Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the astonishing White House clash was a “deliberate escalation” by Trump.

US and Russian officials have held talks on ending the war, enraging Kyiv and Europe for being sidelined, and prompting fears that any deal could threaten Ukraine’s future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said Donald Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation space”, responding to scathing comments by the US president that  Zelensky’s popularity rating is four percent.

“Unfortunately, President Trump, who we have great respect for as leader of the American people … lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv, accusing Moscow of misleading Trump.

Calling for presidential elections in Ukraine, which are banned under martial law, Trump said Tuesday of Zelensky: “He’s down at four percent approval rating”,

Zelensky said the figure “comes from Russia”.

A telephone poll of 1,000 people by the respected Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published Wednesday, found that 57 percent of respondents trusted Zelensky, while 37 percent said they did not and the rest were undecided.

Trump’s comments came after the US and Russian foreign ministers held talks in Saudi Arabia — their first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 — on resetting relations and finding a way to end the conflict.

Kyiv and its European allies have become alarmed at being cut out of the process with Russia to end the conflict.

President Donald Trump sniped at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday and effectively blamed him for Moscow’s invasion — even as he said he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks.

Trump increased pressure on Zelensky to hold elections — echoing one of Moscow’s key demands — and chided the Ukrainian for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia.

The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance towards Russia in a shift that has alarmed European leaders.

“I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.

“Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.

Zelensky had earlier Tuesday criticised the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries, while postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.

The Ukrainian leader’s comments appeared to incense Trump, who proceeded to launch a series of attacks on Zelensky, who has led Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Asked whether the United States would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelensky to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticising what he said were the Ukrainian’s approval ratings.

“They want a seat at the table, but you could say… wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” said Trump.

“That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries.”

Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained in office as Ukraine is still under martial law.

– ‘Power to end this war’ –

European leaders are increasingly fearful that Trump is giving too many concessions to Russia in his pursuit of the Ukraine deal that he promised to seal even before taking office.

But Trump insisted that his only goal was “peace” to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.

Trump said he was “much more confident” of a deal after the talks, adding: “They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”

“I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump said.

The US leader added that he was “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine if he can strike a deal to end the war.

“If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it,” he said.

“I know France was willing to do that, and I thought that was a beautiful gesture,” added Trump, saying that Britain had made a similar offer.

The United States would not have to contribute “because, you know, we’re very far away.”

Trump stunned the world when he announced last week that he had spoken to Putin, and that the two leaders had agreed to start peace talks and to travel to meet each other in Moscow and Washington.

The US president then said they would hold a first meeting, most likely also in Saudi Arabia.

Although no date has been announced, when asked if he would met Putin before the end of the month, Trump said “probably.”