- There were multiple reports late Monday that the White House was pausing all aid to Ukraine.
- NATO members, excluding the U.S., reached a four-part agreement to maintain Ukraine aid, participate in peace talks, support Ukraine post-peace, and deploy troops and equipment in the conflict.
- Following a tense Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, disagreements persist about U.S. involvement, with Trump wanting to end the conflict with a economic deal between the two countries.
The White House said late Monday that the United States would pause all aid to Ukraine, including aid already in transit, according to multiple reports.
“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,” a White House official told CNN.
Peace talks stalled following President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s heated Oval Office meeting Friday. But NATO leaders, excluding the U.S., came to a four-part agreement in London on Sunday, to step up support for Ukraine in the war.
European countries and Canada will maintain Ukraine aid and sanctions on Russia, participate in peace talks that guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty, support Ukraine post-peace and deploy their own troops and equipment to join in the fight.
However, in the U.S., opinions vary widely on what kind of involvement the U.S. should have moving forward in the war.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that a change in Ukrainian leadership would ultimately benefit the country.
Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called Graham’s statement a “horrific suggestion” on Sunday’s “Meet The Press.”
“Zelenskyy is leading a country, trying to defend democracy against an authoritative dictator, (President Vladimir) Putin, who invaded his country. And I think millions of Americans are embarrassed, are ashamed that you have a president of the United States who says Ukraine started the war, that Zelenskyy is a dictator. He’s got it exactly backwards,” Sanders said.
Sanders also said the U.S. has a responsibility, as the “democratic leader of the world,” to continue to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.
Similarly, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told British Parliament, Monday, the U.K. will increase economic pressure on Russia, ensure lasting peace includes Ukraine’s sovereignty and boost military aid.
Starmer added that the U.K. will back Ukraine with “boots on the ground and planes in the air.” He added, “Europe must do the heavy lifting, but to support peace in our continent and succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing.”
Trump Cabinet members push back on European plan
On the same day as the Oval Office meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared on CNN and criticized this approach, which he believes bolsters Ukraine with no exit strategy from the war.
“We’re three years into a war that has no end in sight and no exit strategy. The EU doesn’t have an exit strategy,” Rubio said. “The only person on the planet who is actively trying to bring an end to this conflict is named Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and we should be helping him to achieve it.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, told Bloomberg on Friday that the minerals deal the U.S. was pursuing could be the kind of exit strategy needed to end the war. He believes it would have acted as a signal to Russia that the U.S. and Ukraine are economically intertwined and united.
However, “It’s very difficult to do an economic deal with a leader who doesn’t want to do a peace deal,” Bessent said.
Bessent was several seats away from Trump and Zelenskyy on Friday, and he said he was “shocked” with how Zelenskyy interacted with U.S. leadership. If the Ukrainian president were to come back to the deal, Bessent believes it would take “a lot of repair.”
Where are Zelenskyy and Trump on the deal now?
Referencing Sunday’s emergency NATO summit in London, Zelenskyy said, “We are talking about the first steps today, and therefore, until they are on paper, I would not like to talk about them in great detail.”
However, the Ukrainian president added, “An agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet.”
After Zelenskyy’s comment was published by The Associated Press on Monday morning, Trump posted to Truth Social, “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!”
Trump continued, “It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. — Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
But where does this leave Ukraine and the United States?
During the summit, Sunday, Zelenskyy said if Trump invited him “for a constructive dialogue, to solve real problems, for serious issues and real, decisive actions and answers — I will arrive,” per the National Post.
NATO leaders are likely to discuss next moves at another emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday.