According to the Wall Street Journal, President Trump has ordered a pause to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, said Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe. The US is trying to force Kyiv to cooperate in a peace deal.
The U.S. suspended weapons shipments to Ukraine earlier this week after a horrendous meeting in the Oval Office where Ukrainian President Zelensky appeared to think he was there to berate President Trump and his team publicly.
A White House official said that the U.S. had paused military aid to Ukraine until Trump is satisfied that Zelensky is making a good-faith effort to engage in negotiations to stop the war. Ratcliffe indicated that intelligence sharing could also resume.
“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,” Ratcliffe said. “But to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward again, President Trump is going to hold everyone accountable to drive peace around the world.”
On Tuesday, Zelensky said he would sign the minerals deal, but he appeared to fall short of a sincere effort at peace. He says one thing and then demands US security in perpetuity.
We have become a combatant in the war by providing weapons and intelligence. President Zelensky doesn’t understand that we no longer want to be a party to the bloodshed.
NSA Mike Waltz said he had spoken with Ukraine’s national security adviser about the locations for the next round of negotiations on the war. He thinks there might be some movement now, but he shouldn’t count on it.
Big Ukraine war supporter Marc Thiessen wrote about the Friday Oval Office meeting in The Washington Post:
The blowup was Zelensky’s fault. To understand why, one needs to watch the entire 50-minute meeting unfold. Trump greeted Zelensky graciously, praising the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people, and dismissed their earlier rift as “a little negotiations spat.”
Even after Zelensky refused a White House request to wear a suit, Trump praised his outfit, saying, “I think he’s dressed beautifully.” Trump extolled the minerals deal they had reached and said, “We look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging.” He publicly pledged to continue military aid to Ukraine and even held out the possibility that he “could conceivably” commit U.S. troops alongside British and French troops to provide security after a peace deal was reached.
This should have been music to Zelensky’s ears. He should have taken the win. Instead, about 24 minutes in — long before his terse exchange with Vice President JD Vance — Zelensky started criticizing Trump in front of the assembled reporters.
He summarily dismissed Trump’s idea of an immediate ceasefire — something that is extremely important to Trump, who is committed to stopping the killing — because he said Putin had already broken ceasefires 25 times.
“He never broke to me,” Trump said. “No, no, you were the president,” Zelensky contradicted him. “He never broke to me,” Trump repeated. Instead of letting it pass, Zelensky contradicted him again: “In 2016, you’ve been the president, Mr. President” he said, adding, “That’s why we will never accept just a ceasefire. It will not work without security guarantees.” …
Zelensky’s implacable and it doesn’t help that every Democrat wants to keep the war going.
The Oval Office visit was supposed to be ceremonial:
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