The United States has restricted intelligence-sharing with Ukraine in addition to enforcing a pause in U.S military assistance to the country trying to stave off Russia's three-year full-scale invasion, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirmed.
The revelation comes after US President Donald Trump read out a letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an address to Congress on March 4, citing the Ukrainian leader's readiness for peace talks and willingness to sign a deal on critical minerals with Washington. That followed an argument in the Oval Office between the two presidents that saw Zelenskyy leave without signing the agreement and Washington suspending military aid to Kyiv.
In comments to Fox News, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the pause on both military aid and intelligence-sharing was rooted in Trump's concerns over Zelenskyy's commitment to peace after a disastrous meeting between the two leaders in the Oval Office last week.
"I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause will go away," Ratcliffe told Fox.
"And I think we'll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that's there [and] to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward," Ratcliffe said.
SEE ALSO: Russia's War In Ukraine Fuels Wild Week Of DiplomacyWestern military intelligence has played a vital role in Ukraine's ability to defend itself from Russia's invasion and target Russian forces.
Ratcliffe did not specify which aspects of intelligence-sharing with Kyiv had been affected, but Western media reports have suggested the restrictions are significant.
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reported on March 4 that Washington had in parallel prohibited the United Kingdom from forwarding US intelligence to the authorities in Kyiv.
The Washington Post, citing US and Ukrainian officials, reported that the move includes a stop in sharing targeting data that American intelligence agencies provide to Kyiv so that it can better aim US long-range weapons and Ukrainian-made drones at Russian targets, including those inside Russian territory.
Trump’s national-security adviser, Mike Waltz, who was heavily critical of Zelenskyy in the aftermath of his White House argument with Trump, also told Fox that the US pause on military aid to Ukraine could be lifted.
SEE ALSO: As Trump Pauses US Military Aid To Ukraine, Can Europe Step Up?"I think if we can nail down these negotiations and move toward 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," Waltz said.
"We have to know that both sides are sincerely negotiating toward a partial, then a permanent, peace," Waltz added.
Democratic Representative Jim Hines, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, called the pause "unconscionable."
"The idea that we will now withhold life-saving intelligence from Ukrainians who are fighting and dying is unforgivable. Any pause in intelligence-sharing must end immediately," he said in a statement.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly reiterated his commitment to a "lasting peace," including in the letter read out by Trump to Congress.
But Trump has signaled he wants to use Washington's available leverage to secure a quick peace to end a three-year war that he has described as "ridiculous."
In a tense exchange in the Oval Office on February 28, Trump told Zelenskyy that he didn't "have the cards" to settle the conflict without the help of the United States.
But Trump made no mention of the heated argument in his address to Congress, while Zelenskyy has since said that he regrets the turn that the meeting took.