US President Donald Trump said he had largely lifted a freeze on US intelligence sharing with Ukraine as he looked to push both Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table in hopes of brokering a peace deal.
“Well we just about have,” Trump said Sunday to reporters aboard Air Force One when he was asked if he would consider resuming intelligence sharing. “We want to do anything we can to get Ukraine serious about getting something done.”
The US stopped providing Ukraine some intelligence that was helping the country’s military target Russian forces after a meeting at the White House between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy devolved into open arguing, with Trump and other US officials saying they weren’t sure the Ukrainian leader was serious about peace negotiations. Following the dust up, US officials said they were freezing military assistance including the offensive intelligence sharing.
US officials did say that they would continue providing intelligence to Ukraine to help protect its forces, but a barrage of missile attacks by Russia in recent days have prompted questions over Trump’s decision to limit assistance. Trump acknowledged the toll of recent fighting and reiterated he was also considering imposing more tariffs on Russia in order to force progress on peace.
“We’re looking at a lot of things,” Trump said.
US and Ukrainian officials are preparing to meet Tuesday in Saudi Arabia in a bid to restore ties, including the possible resurrection of a critical minerals deal that Zelenskiy and Trump had expected to sign in late February.
“I think we’re going to make a lot of progress I believe this week,” Trump said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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