Trump temporarily suspends US military aid to Ukraine

US President Donald Trump on Monday temporarily suspended the delivery of all U.S. military aid to Ukraine, senior administration and military officials said.

The move comes days after Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had an explosive confrontation at the White House.

The order affects more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition in the pipeline and on order.

It resulted from a series of meetings at the White House on Monday between Trump and his senior national security aides, the officials said.

The officials said the directive would be in effect until Trump determined that Ukraine had demonstrated a good-faith commitment to peace negotiations with Russia.

Trump’s decision dramatically escalates the breach between Washington and Kyiv, at a critical moment in the conflict. The most immediate beneficiary of the move is President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

If the suspension is lengthy, he can use the time to press for further territorial gains. And he may well decide to hold back from any negotiations at all, figuring that any prolonged dispute between Trump and Zelensky will only strengthen his position, either on the battlefield or when cease-fire talks ever take place.

The suspension also puts the United States in direct opposition to its major NATO allies. Most of the largest European nations, led by France, Britain and Germany, have pledged to step up aid to Ukraine in recent days, siding with Zelensky in his dispute with the Trump administration. But they simply do not have the stockpiles to make up the difference in the short term.

Trump’s directive also halts deliveries of equipment from Pentagon stockpiles as aid through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides funds that Kyiv can use only to buy new military hardware directly from U.S. defence companies.

It was unclear what exactly Zelensky would need to do for Mr. Trump to resume the military assistance.