President Donald Trump has paused assistance to Kiev to see if it is ready to work towards peace, multiple officials have said

Washington has paused US aid to Ukraine to review whether or not to continue, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has said.

She made the statement in a press conference on Wednesday when asked by a journalist if the aid freeze is permanent.

“The National Security Council told me… they paused or they are reconsidering the funding for Ukraine,” Leavitt replied. “It's a pause for a review.”

Military assistance to Kiev was suspended after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last week culminated in a shouting match. Trump later accused Zelensky of not being truly interested in making peace with Russia, but of attempting to get Washington “signed up and keep fighting.”

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US intelligence sharing with Ukraine has similarly been brought to a stop, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed to Fox Business on Wednesday when asked whether Washington “cut off” cooperation with Kiev. Trump had “asked for a pause” to see if Ukraine is ready to work towards peace, he added.

“President Trump had a real question whether… Zelensky was committed to a peace process,” Ratcliffe explained.

Asked about the military aid freeze to Kiev, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on Wednesday that Trump would examine lifting the pause “if we can nail down these negotiations.”

The day before, Zelensky backtracked on his policy of not negotiating with Russia and declared that he is ready for an immediate ceasefire, in a lengthy post on X.

Kiev is ready to move to end the conflict through an immediate release of prisoners, a temporary ceasefire, and a ban on long-range strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure, he wrote.

READ MORE: Zelensky reverses hardline position on peace talks

Moscow has said it has always been ready to return to the negotiating table, while noting that Zelensky signed a decree banning talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon after the escalation of the conflict in 2022.

However, Russia has stressed that it wants a permanent, stable peace and considers a temporary ceasefire unacceptable, arguing that the time would simply be used to rearm Ukraine for further hostilities.