News Feed

Trump halts military aid to Ukraine, Bloomberg reports

3 min read
Trump halts military aid to Ukraine, Bloomberg reports
Donald Trump, then-Republican presidential nominee, arrives at a town hall campaign event at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. on Oct. 20, 2024. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a suspension of all military aid to Ukraine, a senior Defense Department official told Bloomberg on March 3, escalating pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky mere days after a heated exchange in the Oval Office cast doubt on U.S. support for Kyiv.

According to the official, all U.S. military assistance to Ukraine is on hold until Trump determines that Ukrainian leaders are making a genuine effort toward peace.

The directive goes into effect immediately, impacting over $1 billion in weapons and ammunition. An official who spoke to the New York Times on condition of anonymity, said the decision followed a series of White House meetings between President Trump and his senior national security advisers.

"The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution," the White House official said this evening, according to CNN.

The pause affects not only future aid but also weapons already in transit, including shipments on aircraft and ships, as well as equipment awaiting transfer in Poland.

The U.S. has provided assistance worth $119.8 billion since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, including $67.1 billion in military aid, $49 billion in financial aid, and $3.6 billion in humanitarian aid, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Explainer: Did Trump lie about $350 billion aid to Ukraine, and does Kyiv have to repay it?
U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. spent $350 billion on assistance for Ukraine. He also said he wants it back. Trump has used the sum to pressure Ukraine into signing a deal that would give the U.S. at least a 50% interest in Ukrainian
Article image

The decision follows a contentious meeting between Trump and Zelensky, where disagreements over military aid and Ukraine’s strategic stance fueled tensions.

Following the meeting, Trump said that Zelensky "is not ready for peace." "He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for peace," Trump posted on Truth Social on Feb. 28.

The White House has not specified what steps Ukraine must take to restore the flow of military aid, leaving uncertainty over the timeline and conditions for its resumption.

A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that Trump expects Zelensky to be "committed" to negotiate a peace deal to end the war. Additionally, the U.S. is "pausing and reviewing" its military aid to ensure it is "contributing to a solution."

‘We need to get the U.S. back on track:’ Ukrainian businesses, economists react to mineral deal failure
An agreement on Ukraine’s natural resources collapsed after a heated argument in the Oval Office on Feb. 28 between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, casting doubt on the deal’s future. Following weeks of tough negotiations, Kyiv…
Article image

Avatar
Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

Read more
News Feed

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Leo received Metropolitan Anthony, the senior Russian Orthodox Church cleric who chairs its department of external church relations, along with five other high-profile clerics, during a morning audience on July 26.

Show More