The United States has stopped its exchange of intelligence with Ukraine, reducing the flow of vital information that has helped the nation devastated by war to Russian invaders, but Trump administration officials said Wednesday that positive conversations between Washington and Kyiv mean that it can only be a brief suspension.
Information about Russia's intentions and military movements has been critical for the defense of Ukraine and a strong support indication of the United States and other Western allies. The suspension occurs after Trump stopped military aid to Ukraine and is another sign of how he has transformed the relationship of the United States with nearby allies.
“We have taken a step back and we are stopping and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” said National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Wednesday.
The comments of the Trump administration officials suggest that the decision is part of the broader negotiations between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a peace agreement with Russia, and that intelligence could begin to flow to Ukraine again soon.
The director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, described the suspension as a “pause” and said it occurred after the disastrous meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy at the Oval office last week. Ratcliffe said Trump wanted to know that Zelenskyy took peace seriously.
“On the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed it to happen will disappear, and I think we will work shoulder shoulder with Ukraine as we have done,” said Ratcliffe.
American intelligence assistance is vital for Ukraine to track the movements of Russian troops and selected objectives. The Ukrainians use the information when they operate high mobility artillery rocket systems with the supply of the United States, or Himar, and the US Army's Tactical Missile System. UU., Known as Atacms.
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The intelligence of the United States and other allies also helps Ukraine to prepare for Russian attacks, and provided critical information in the first days of the war that allowed Ukraine to frustrate the hopes of Russian President Vladimir Putin of a rapid victory.
The CIA refused to answer questions about the change in the exchange of intelligence.
Ukraine could soon receive intelligence from the United States once Zelenskyy shows Trump to take participation in conversations in Trump, Waltz said in “Fox & Friends” of Fox News Channel.
“I think that if we can obtain these negotiations and move towards these negotiations and, in fact, put some confidence construction measures on the table, then the president will analyze this pause a lot,” he said. “We have to know that both parties are sincerely negotiating towards a partial, then permanent peace.”
The movements of the new administration have dismayed leaders in Europe and Democrats in Washington, who say Trump is depriving an American assistance ally they need to fight Russia.
The flow of information to Ukraine has saved lives, the American representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the highest democrat in the Chamber Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday.
“The idea that we will now retain the intelligence that saves lives of the Ukrainians who fight and die is unforgivable,” Himes said.
The officials in Ukraine declined to comment on Wednesday about the country's intelligence exchange relationship with Washington. The CIA officials also refused to answer the questions.
It is not clear if the US suspension affects the intelligence exchange ties between Ukraine and other Western powers, including four of the five eyes, a coalition of shared intelligence from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer spokesman, Dave Pares, would not confirm whether the United Kingdom is still providing intelligence to Ukraine of the United States.
He said that Great Britain was “will do everything to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position in all aspects of our support, particularly around defense and security, and our position has not changed.”
–Associated Press Jill Lawless writers in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal and Illia Novikov in kyiv contributed to this report.
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