Donald Trump has paused all aid to Ukraine in a “catastrophic” blow that will lead to the deaths of “thousands” of people.
A White House official said the US was “pausing and reviewing” military support to “ensure that it [Ukraine] is contributing to a solution”, adding that Trump’s entire focus is on reaching a peace deal – a scheme he and Vladimir Putin are belligerently pushing for.
Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko said that halting aid to a country engaged in active warfare is “catastrophic for us” as he begged Trump to “give us some time” before cutting them off.
He added that Putin will be “embolden[ed]” by the move, and that Ukraine and the US need to work together to find a solution.
Taking direct jabs at Zelensky yesterday, Trump slammed him for saying that a deal to end the war is “still very, very far away”.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
“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 Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US – probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia.”
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