Trump Suspends Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine
The pause is expected to cripple Kyiv’s ability to target Russian forces
March 5, 2025
President Trump has ordered a pause to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, said Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, a move that deprives Kyiv of a key tool in fighting Russian forces.
The U.S. suspended weapons shipments to Ukraine earlier this week after a contentious Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday unraveled plans to sign a minerals deal as a first step in bringing Ukraine and Russia to peace talks. Ratcliffe, appearing on Fox Business Wednesday, said Trump, after that meeting, had also “asked for a pause” of intelligence sharing.
The U.S. has shared intelligence with Kyiv since the early months of the war, allowing Ukrainian forces to target Russian forces more effectively.
A White House official said that the U.S. had paused military aid to Ukraine until Trump is satisfied that Zelensky is making a good-faith effort to engage in negotiations to stop the war. Ratcliffe indicated that intelligence sharing could also resume.
“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,” Ratcliffe said. “But to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward again, President Trump is going to hold everyone accountable to drive peace around the world.”
On Tuesday, Zelensky posted on X that he would sign the minerals deal, but that apparently has not been enough to reverse the decision on halting military assistance.
“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.”
The suspension of intelligence sharing to Ukraine is a major concession to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has said that U.S. involvement in weapons targeting has made Washington a virtual combatant of the war.
The CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies have forged deep ties with Ukrainian counterparts. In 2021 and early 2022, the U.S. shared intelligence with Ukraine about Russia’s pending offensive.
“We have taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” national security advisor Mike Waltz told reporters outside the White House Wednesday.
Waltz said he had spoken with Ukraine’s national security advisor about the locations for the next round of negotiations on the war.
“So just in the last 24 hours since the public statement from Zelensky, and then these subsequent conversations, which I’m going to walk inside and continue, I think we’re going to see movement in very short order.”
Write to Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@wsj.com