U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of military aid to Ukraine. This information was reported by major American media outlets such as Bloomberg, AFP, Reuters, and others, citing a White House representative.
According to the report, Trump gave the corresponding order to U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
"The President has made it clear that he is focused on achieving peace. We want our partners to be committed to this goal as well. We are halting our aid and re-evaluating it to ensure that it contributes to solving the problem," AFP quoted a statement from the Trump administration.
According to Bloomberg and Fox News, this pause will continue until Trump sees that Ukraine's leadership is striving for peace. It is still unclear what specific steps President Zelensky should take.
"This is not a complete cessation of aid, just a temporary pause," Fox News quoted a representative of the Trump administration.
According to Bloomberg, the decision will apply to all U.S. military equipment that has not yet been delivered to Ukraine, including weapons in transit or waiting to be shipped through Poland. This includes critical combat ammunition, hundreds of multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), anti-tank weapons, and other military equipment. The exact amount of suspended aid is not yet known.
U.S. weapons were being delivered to Ukraine through three channels: either U.S. President allocated weapons from stockpiles for Ukraine, the Pentagon ordered specific weapons for Ukraine, or Ukraine used funds allocated by the U.S. to buy American weapons.
According to The New York Times, arms supplies and production orders worth more than $1 billion will be halted. In addition, Ukraine will lose hundreds of millions of dollars under a special assistance program that finances direct arms supplies from U.S. defense industry facilities.
Donald Trump made this decision three days after meeting Ukrainian President Zelensky at the White House. The meeting saw tense discussions.
Earlier, on Monday, Trump reacted strongly to Zelensky's statement that “the war with Russia will likely continue.” “This is the worst statement Zelensky could make. America will no longer tolerate this,” Trump wrote on his personal social network, Truth Social.
In a February interview, Zelensky had warned that the suspension of U.S. aid could have serious consequences. According to him, approximately 30% of the weapons and military equipment used by Ukraine come from the U.S. American analysts believe that the existing weapon stockpiles will allow the Ukrainian army to sustain the current intensity of fighting until about mid-summer.