US President Donald Trump has decided to suspend all military aid to Kiev until further notice, according to several White House sources.
According to the sources, arms deliveries will be stopped until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is deemed willing to make an effort to achieve a lasting peace with Russia.
– The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. 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, a source explained to the Wall Street Journal
According to a senior Trump administration official, all of the president’s top security advisers agree that arms shipments to Ukraine must be paused after sitting in numerous meetings on the matter.
The sources point out that Trump is upset by Zelenskyi’s behavior during the meeting at the White House this week, where the Ukrainian leader expressed, among other things, that he did not believe that peace could be reached in the near future.
The US President even scolded Zelensky after the meeting, accusing him of being unwilling to make peace with Russia and of risking escalating the conflict into a major international war.
– You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people, you’re gambling with World War III… You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out, declared an outraged Donald Trump.
“Didn’t think we were serious”
– The Ukrainians didn’t think we were serious. We had to make a demonstration, continues the US government source.
He says that it is ultimately up to Trump to decide whether Ukraine is serious about starting peace talks or not. It is also unclear whether it will be enough for Zelensky to sign the agreements giving the US rights to rare Ukrainian mineral resources – something the Trump administration has previously demanded in exchange for continued support.
The announcement means that all planned deliveries of military equipment will be suspended until further notice, including weapons and ammunition already in transit in Poland or ready to be shipped or flown to Ukraine.
Kristersson: “Serious information”
Although Russia welcomes the announcement, not everyone is happy. A large number of Democratic senators and a few Republican senators have criticized the decision, and harsh criticism has also come from the EU. Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, does not want to make a definite statement until the information has been confirmed, but tells the state broadcaster SVT that “if it is true, it is serious information”.
– It means that Ukraine is missing out on a number of things that are important to them. They are losing far from everything and it is not that everything is irreplaceable. But it is undoubtedly a setback.
– A peace forced on Ukraine with bad terms is an incredibly risky peace that only leaves room for Russia to come back once more. There are strong reasons for us in the rest of Europe to stick to our support and help Ukraine, he added.
“Keep a Cool Head”
Kristersson also refrains from commenting on the power shift in the U.S. and Trump’s stance on the war in Ukraine, instead reiterating his previous message about the importance of “keeping a cool head”.
– The entire Western world cannot spend every day commenting on constantly new statements. What happens on the ground and in reality is what truly matters, he argues.
This week, the Prime Minister will travel to Brussels for an emergency summit where discussions will include a joint European military buildup and the potential framework for a European peace plan for Ukraine.
