CIA Director John Ratcliffe appeared on Fox Business Wednesday and announced the United States had paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, as well as military aid, in order to pressure its government into cooperating with the Trump administration’s negotiations to end the war against Russia. Ratcliffe also stated that intelligence sharing would likely resume with Ukraine shortly, since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s public X announcement that his White House visit was “regrettable” and he is ready “to make things right.”
“President Zelenskyy put out a statement that said, ‘I am ready for peace and I want President Donald Trump’s leadership to bring about that peace,’” Ratcliffe said. “And so I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed that to happen, I think will go away, and I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have, to push back on the aggression that’s there.”
Also on Wednesday, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz discussed Ukraine on Fox and Friends saying that he spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart about setting up peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
“If we can nail down these negotiations and move towards these negotiations and put confidence building measures on the table, the President will take a hard look at lifting this pause,” Waltz said when asked about the intelligence pause. “We have to know that both sides are sincerely negotiating towards a partial then permanent peace.”
The upset comes after President Trump halted military aid to Ukraine earlier this week following his tenseexchange with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office Friday over the peace negotiations and American support for Ukraine’s war effort. Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of disrespecting the U.S. and lacking gratitude for American military aid. The dispute led to the Trump administration’s minerals deal with Ukraine not being signed after extensive negotiations, according to National Review.
Zelenskyy addressed the blowup in a statement Tuesday, calling it “regrettable” and emphasizing Ukraine’s support for peace rather than endless war.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive,” Zelenskyy said.
“None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”
