By DAVID KLEPPER and DARLENE SUPERVILLE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has paused its intelligence sharing with Ukraine, cutting off the flow of vital information that has helped the war-torn nation target Russian invaders, but Trump administration officials said Wednesday that positive talks between Washington and Kyiv mean it may only be a short suspension.
Information about Russia’s intentions and military movements has been critical to Ukraine’s defense and a strong indication of support from the U.S. and other Western allies. The suspension comes after Trump paused military aid to Ukraine and is another sign of how he has transformed America’s relationship with close allies.
“We have taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” national security adviser Mike Waltz said Wednesday.
Comments from top Trump administration officials suggest the decision is part of the broader negotiations between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a peace deal with Russia, and that intelligence could begin flowing to Ukraine again soon.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe called the suspension a “pause” and said it came after the disastrous meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week. Ratcliffe said Trump wanted to know that Zelenskyy was serious about peace.
“On the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed that to happen will go away, and I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have,” Ratcliffe said.
U.S. intelligence assistance is vital for Ukraine to track Russian troop movements and select targets. Ukrainians use the information when operating U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS.
Intelligence from the U.S. and other allies also helps Ukraine prepare for Russian attacks, and supplied critical information in the war’s early days that allowed Ukraine to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes for a quick victory.
The CIA declined to respond to questions about the change in intelligence sharing.
Ukraine could soon be receiving intelligence from the U.S. once Zelenskyy shows to Trump he is serious about participating in talks on Trump’s terms, Waltz said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”
“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,” he said. “We have to know that both sides are sincerely negotiating towards a partial, then permanent, peace.”
The moves by the new administration have dismayed leaders in Europe and Democrats in Washington, who say Trump is depriving a key American ally of assistance they need to fight Russia.
The flow of information to Ukraine has saved lives, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday.
“The idea that we will now withhold life-saving intelligence from Ukrainians who are fighting and dying is unforgivable,” Himes said.
Officials in Ukraine declined to comment Wednesday on the country’s intelligence sharing relationship with Washington. CIA officials also declined to respond to questions.
It’s unclear whether the American suspension affects the intelligence sharing ties between Ukraine and other Western powers, including four of the Five Eyes, an intelligence sharing coalition of the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, would not confirm whether the U.K. is still supplying Ukraine with intelligence from the United States.
He said Britain was “will do everything to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position across all aspects of our support, particularly around defense and security, and our position hasn’t changed.”
Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal and Illia Novikov in Kyiv contributed to this report.