The US has paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv, CIA director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday, in a move that could seriously hamper the Ukrainian military's ability to target Russian forces.
The decision to cut off intelligence-sharing, following a pause in military aid to Ukraine, appears aimed at forcing the US ally to the negotiating table, with the war showing no signs of ending soon.
During his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump said he had received a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which the Ukrainian leader expressed willingness to come to engage in negotiations.
“I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause [that prompted Ukraine's President to respond] I think will go away,” Mr Ratcliffe told Fox Business Network. “I think we'll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that's there, but to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward.”
Three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that US intelligence sharing had stopped. It was not immediately clear to what extent the US had cut back on the sharing. One of the sources said that intelligence sharing had only “partially” been cut, but was unable to provide more detail.
-
To mark the third year of the Ukraine-Russia war, The National looks back at some of the striking images captured during the conflict. Getty Images -
Ukrainians working at the site of a rocket strike on the 'Okhmadyt' children's hospital in Kyiv in 2024. EPA -
A woman walks past a memorial wall dedicated to fallen defenders of Ukraine in downtown Kyiv in 2024. EPA -
A damaged town sign in Orikhiv, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, in 2024. EPA -
Gravediggers prepare the burial site for victims of a Russian missile strike in Hroza in 2023. Getty Images -
Widow Lubov Doroshenko, 67, returns to her destroyed home in 2023 in Bohorodychne. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 24 Separate Mechanized Brigade fires a mortar towards Russian positions, at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region in 2023. EPA -
Emergency workers search the remains of a residential building that was struck by a Russian missile in Dnipro in 2023. Getty Images -
Ukrainian national flags waving over the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in a military cemetery in Kharkiv in 2023. EPA -
A woman walks by destroyed buildings 20 miles west from the front lines of fighting in the Donetsk Region in 2023. Getty Images -
A view taken through the broken glass of a window overlooking the site of a damaged residential building in Dnipro in 2023. EPA -
Numbers mark the graves of unidentified people killed during fighting at the cemetery in Mariupol in 2022. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen shoot from a captured Russian 152, 4mm howitzer Msta-B on a front line near Kupyansk city in 2022. EPA -
A prothesis is adjusted on an Azov Regiment serviceman at a rehabilitation centre in Kyiv in 2022. EPA -
Cars drive past the shell of a rocket in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, in 2022. EPA -
A Ukrainian serviceman rests while travelling with a team of humanitarian volunteers in the Kherson area in 2022. EPA -
A destroyed bridge in Kupiansk in 2022. Getty Images -
A girl arrives at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and the surrounding towns under Russian control in 2022. Getty Images -
The mother of Ukrainian serviceman Andrii Verkhoglyad holds her son's portrait during his funeral ceremony at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv in 2022. EPA -
Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic militia monitors a section of the road near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, in 2022. EPA -
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a warehouse after it was hit by Russian shelling in Kharkiv in 2022. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian soldier waves the Ukrainian national flag while standing on top of an armoured personnel carrier in Hostomel in 2022. Getty Images -
A man pushes his bike through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles in Bucha in 2022. Getty Images -
Residents of Irpin flee heavy fighting in 2022. Getty Images -
A child on a swing outside a residential building damaged by a missile in Kyiv in 2022. Getty Images
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the US has provided Ukraine with significant intelligence, including critical information its military needs for targeting purposes. It has also provided it with billions of dollars in aid.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told reporters on Wednesday that the US “had taken a step back” and that the administration is “reviewing all aspects” of its intelligence relationship with Ukraine.
He added: “I think we've seen movement in the last 24 hours that the Ukrainian side will actually come to the table and negotiate a partial truce, a full truce and then a permanent peace.”
Mr Waltz also said that the US was actively engaged in talks with Ukraine about moving negotiations forward on a minerals deal and a potential peace deal with Russia.
“I think we're going to see movement in very short order,” he said.
The comments come days after a after Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Mr Zelenskyy during a visit to Washington, calling him “disrespectful”.
Ukraine's leader was in Washington to discuss the war, as well as the proposed mineral deal, in which Ukraine would hand over billions of dollars in rare earth minerals to the US. Mr Trump claims this would both repay Washington for its military support and serve as a security guarantee against future Russian aggression.
“You're either going to make a deal or we're out,” Mr Trump said during the meeting.
