CIA Director: United States Halts Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine
The United States has now halted its intelligence sharing with Ukraine, after announcing that it would halt military aid earlier in the week.
In a Wednesday interview on the Fox Business Network, Central Intelligence Agency director John Ratcliffe confirmed reports of the intelligence sharing and military aid freeze. “Trump had a real question about whether President Zelensky was committed to the peace process, and he said let’s pause”.
“I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause 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, but to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward.”
Ratcliffe’s remarks came after three government officials told the Financial Times that the Trump administration had frozen intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and also formally blocked its allies from sharing US intelligence with Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Polish foreign ministry spokesperson Paweł Wroński confirmed that the Trump administration had gone forward with stopping US military aid to Ukraine, saying that the decision had been made without consultation with NATO allies or the Ramstein Group (also known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group) coordinating military aid to Ukraine.
The Trump administration’s move to stop military aid and now intelligence sharing with Ukraine followed a disastrous February 28 meeting at the White House between Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky, Trump and vice president JD Vance. The meeting was intended to achieve an agreement on a “minerals deal” that would have traded access to Ukrainian minerals for security guarantees, but Zelensky and his delegation were ordered to leave the White House after the on-camera meeting degenerated into Trump and Vance berating Zelensky after he criticized the deal presented to him.
Also on Tuesday, Zelensky issued a statement that the outcome of the February 28 meeting was “regrettable”. “Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,” said Zelensky in a message posted on X, the social networking site formerly known as Twitter.
While the Trump administration has yet to make a written response to Zelensky’s remarks, Trump acknowledged them during his State of the Union address, saying that he “appreciated” them.