
President Donald Trump greets Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as he arrives at the White House on Friday. Ben Curtis/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” on U.S. assistance to Ukraine days after a disastrous Oval Office meeting as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to engage in peace talks with Russia.
A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal to end the more than three-year war sparked by Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine and wants Zelensky “committed” to that goal. The official added that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The official spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.
The pause comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine in 2019 as he sought to pressure Zelensky to launch investigations into then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. That led to Trump’s first impeachment.
In the lead-up to his 2024 election win, Trump vowed to quickly end the war in Ukraine, often promising it would be resolved “on Day One” or “within 24 hours” of his reelection. He’s expressed increasing frustration with Zelensky over the war while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian leader Vladimir Putin can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce in the conflict is reached.
Earlier Monday, Trump attacked Zelensky for suggesting that the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine likely “is still very, very far away.”
The comments come as prominent Trump allies escalate pressure on Zelensky to either dramatically change his approach to dealing with Trump — or step aside.
‘WON’T BE AROUND VERY LONG’
The long-complicated relationship between the leaders has reached a low point following the disastrous White House meeting Friday, in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance excoriated Zelensky for a perceived lack of gratitude for U.S. support for Ukraine since Putin ordered the February 2022 invasion.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform about the comments Zelensky made late Sunday while speaking to reporters in London.
At an event at the White House later Monday, Trump referred to Zelensky’s reported comments and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right about that.”
“If somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long,” Trump added. “That person will not be listened to very long.”
In his Sunday remarks, the Ukrainian leader had tried to offer a positive take on the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week’s White House meeting.
Asked by a reporter about the outlines of a new European initiative to end Russia’s war, Zelensky said: “We are talking about the first steps today, and, therefore, until they are on paper, I would not like to talk about them in great detail.”
“An agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet,” he added.
But Trump was only further irritated by Zelensky’s suggesting it will take time for the conflict to come to a close.
“It is what I was saying, 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,” Trump wrote in his post. “What are they thinking?”
Zelensky took to social media himself soon after Trump’s latest criticism. He did not directly refer to Trump’s comments but underscored that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”
“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelensky added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”
TRUMP’S ALLIES ECHO PRESIDENT
Trump’s national security adviser said Zelensky’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward.
“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” earlier Monday. “And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?”
Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelensky is becoming untenable.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that Zelensky “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country” for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the United States.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been previously a vociferous supporter of Ukraine, said soon after the Oval Office meeting that Zelensky “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”
Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelensky and between Europe and the U.S. about the way ahead.
“He is not interested in ending the war,” said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “He thinks Russia is winning. … And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured.”
Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelensky’s visit last week that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals, in part to pay back more than $180 billion in aid the U.S. has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House also billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term.
But the signing was scrapped after the leaders’ Oval Office talks went off the rails, and White House officials asked Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation to leave.
On Monday, Trump suggested he hasn’t given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal.” He added that he expected to speak about the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, on Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track.
After the lengthy call, Fitzpatrick predicted the “deal will be signed in short order.”
AP journalist Tracy Brown contributed to this story.
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