US pauses intelligence sharing with Ukraine

National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on Wednesday told reporters the United States had stepped back on intelligence sharing while reviewing all aspects of its relationship with Ukraine. Waltz did not detail whether the pause was full or partial, or how long it would last. In a separate interview, he said that President Trump would reconsider the pause once Ukraine had made a move toward further negotiations. Waltz expected that to happen soon.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe also seemed to indicate the pause could be brief. In a Wednesday interview with Fox Business, Ratcliffe said that Trump suspended both military and intelligence aid until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that he was committed to a peace process. Zelenskyy responded swiftly with a Tuesday statement on social media that floated ideas for a peace plan. Ratcliffe suggested that Zelenskyy’s statement may have met Trump’s condition for lifting the pause on both military and intelligence sharing.

Ukraine uses U.S. intelligence to track Russian troop movements and operate U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and a tactical missile system, the Associated Press reported.

How did elected officials with intelligence expertise respond? Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House’s intelligence committee, condemned the pause. While serving on the committee, he witnessed how U.S. intelligence helped save the lives of both Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, he said. But House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said the United States had to make challenging decisions to bring Ukraine closer to peace.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on Zelenskyy’s potential peace plan.