This photo taken on Aug 15, 2024 shows a Ukrainian tank destroyed during Russian attacks in Toretsk. [Photo/Xinhua]
WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration on Monday paused all military aid to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.
The pause, which Trump ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to execute, will remain in effect until President Donald Trump determines that Ukraine's leaders "demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace" with Russia, a senior Defense Department official was quoted as saying.
All US military equipment not currently in Ukraine, said the official, will be paused, including weapons in transit on aircraft and ships or those waiting in transit areas in Poland.
The move comes after Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky turned into a tense shouting match at the White House on Friday, leading to the cancellation of an anticipated bilateral materials deal.
The draft deal, as US media reported, included the establishment of a fund to be jointly owned by Ukraine and the United States, to which Ukraine will contribute 50 percent of its revenues from the future monetization of natural resources, including critical minerals, oil and gas.
Earlier on Monday, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the United States "will not put up with" what he perceived as Zelensky's hesitancy about reaching a US-brokered peace deal with Russia.
"This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy," Trump said in the post in which he included a link to a report by The Associated Press quoting Zelensky as saying late Sunday that the end of Ukraine's conflict with Russia "is still very, very far away."
But Trump also hinted on Monday that a deal to open up Ukraine's minerals to US investment is still on the table despite his frustration with Kyiv.
