The United States has suspended its intelligence sharing with Ukraine following the public dispute involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance last week in the Oval Office.
The administration also paused U.S. military aid to Ukraine as a result of the meeting, though CIA Director John Ratcliffe indicated the president's decision could be reversed now that Zelensky has said the heated conversation was "regrettable."
"President Trump had a real question about whether President Zelensky was committed to the peace process, and he said, 'Let's pause, I want to give you a chance to think about that,'" Ratcliffe said Wednesday in an interview on Mornings with Maria on Fox Business. "And you saw the response that President Zelensky put out a statement saying, 'I'm ready for peace, and I want Donald Trump's leadership to bring about that peace.'
"So I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed that to happen, I think will go away, and I think we'll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that's there," he added.
Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told CBS Mornings, “We are pausing, assessing, looking at everything across our security relationship." He added in another interview with Fox News, "I think if we can nail down these negotiations and move towards these negotiations, and in fact, put some confidence-building measures on the table, then the president will take a hard look at lifting this pause."
Zelensky traveled to Washington last week to sign a minerals agreement with the U.S., which did not ultimately occur due to the spat in the Oval Office. Administration officials asked Zelensky to leave before they signed the deal.
The framework of the deal is that the U.S. would invest in Ukraine's mineral and natural resources in exchange for a portion of the proceeds, which would serve as a way for the U.S. to get reimbursed for the tens of billions of dollars worth of military aid the U.S. has provided to Ukraine.
Zelensky has since signaled, including through a letter that Trump referenced during his Tuesday night address to Congress, that he is open to signing the deal.
"I received an important letter from President Zelensky of Ukraine," Trump said. "The letter reads, 'Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians,' he said. 'My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.'"
The Trump administration is pursuing an end to the war, and as Trump has said, the U.S. began to doubt whether Zelensky wanted to end the conflict following the now-infamous White House meeting. The Ukrainian leader maintains, however, that he does want a deal to end the war but wants security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe to ensure Russia cannot restart the conflict.
Trump has said the long-term economic deal would deter future Russian aggression because Americans would be in Ukraine assisting in the minerals extraction process, though Zelensky has sought more concrete defensive measures.
Waltz said on Fox News that he spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday.
"We are talking about a location, a date, negotiating yesterday, and today was a positive step forward to say we are going to negotiate this peace," he said. "The conversation this morning was much better than what we've been having the last several days."
At the same time, the Trump administration wants Europe to share a larger portion of the burden of aiding Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron both visited the White House last week and have discussed formulating a plan to fill the void left by the U.S.'s policy changes with the new administration.
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Zelensky met with the two leaders last weekend after his blow-up in the White House. Starmer and Macron are reportedly considering traveling with Zelensky to the White House this time, according to the Daily Telegraph. They have also discussed putting peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.
Despite all of the administration's efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to a close, it is unclear if Moscow will capitulate in negotiations. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered forces to first encroach Ukrainian territory in 2014 and then tried to take over the entire country in February 2022.