WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump has paused military funding to Ukraine just days after a heated meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a statement to Fox News on Monday evening, a White House official confirmed that “President Trump 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 Trump administration official told the outlet that the decision to pause aid resulted from the two presidents’ confrontation at the White House on Friday and that the measure is considered temporary.
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European leaders have responded to the aid cut, with EU Commissioner Ursula Von der Leyen stating that Europe “is ready to step up” to replace U.S. funding. “Europe is ready to assume its responsibilities” to “arm” the continent with “800 billion euros of defense expenditures,” she added.
Trump butted heads with Zelensky last week in a meeting at the White House, where the president offered Ukraine a minerals for security exchange agreement, supposedly aimed at brokering peace in the region. However, Zelensky rejected the deal on the basis that there was no security guarantee if Russia were to invade the nation at a later point.
In response, Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III” and purposely avoiding peace negotiations. He later took to social media to share that Zelensky “is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.”
“I don’t want advantage,” Trump wrote, “I want peace.”
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