The United States has temporarily cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine, officials said on Wednesday, the latest blow to the relationship between the Trump administration and Kyiv.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed the decision in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday morning. Three people familiar with the move told POLITICO that the freeze came down some time after the Trump administration paused weapons shipments on Monday night. The people were granted anonymity to talk about ongoing intelligence sharing between the two sides.
Both moves follow a heated Oval Office exchange on Friday, as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for failing to show enough gratitude for American support and saying that Kyiv was overplaying a weak diplomatic hand.
Ratcliffe indicated the pause could be temporary, but was an effort to put pressure on Ukraine to get to the negotiating table.
“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. “President Trump is going to hold everyone accountable to drive peace around the world.”
It was not immediately clear when the intelligence cutoff from the United States to Ukraine took effect. As of Monday night, after
POLITICO reported that the Trump administration had ordered the U.S. to pause weapons shipments to Ukraine, intelligence and communications were still on, according to a European diplomat familiar with the matter.
Ukraine’s military intelligence unit did not respond to a request for comment. Zelenskyy’s office declined to comment.
