The United States has “just about” lifted the intelligence sharing ban on Ukraine, introduced last week to remind Kyiv of the importance of following the peace path, President Donald Trump said overnight.
President Donald Trump told journalists on Air Force One that he was doing “anything we can” to get “Ukraine to be serious” about peace, nevertheless his temporary pause in intelligence sharing with Kyiv — essential for their defence against the Russian invasion — is “just about” over already.
The United States suspended its provision of intelligence with Ukraine last week as part of its freeze on military assistance to Kyiv until President Volodymyr Zelensky dedicates himself more fully to the peace process. While this would have been a considerable disadvantage to the Ukrainians, who have relied on Western intelligence to precision-guide strikes and operations, United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made clear at a briefing it was temporary and would be restored when President Zelensky came back to the negotiating table.
United States Ends Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine, Bans Allies From Passing on American-Origin Observationhttps://t.co/PRmkfUFjQU
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 5, 2025
That the U.S. feels confident that talks are back on track may have been telegraphed by President Trump as he huddled with journalists on Air Force One late Sunday evening, responding to a question on when the country would be lifting the intelligence pause: “We, we just about have.
I mean, we really just about have, and we want to do anything we can to get Ukraine to be serious about getting something done.”
Continuing, the President emphasised his focus on ending the “killing field” in which thousands of people “not only Ukrainians but Russians” die every week. He said: “You know, I say they don’t have the cards. Nobody really has the cards, Russia doesn’t have the cards. What you have to do is you have to make a deal, and you have to stop the killing. It’s a senseless war, and we’re going to get it stopped.”
Starting today, talks will continue in Saudi Arabia. While the last meeting was a table-setting exercise between the United States and Russia, this week Ukraine will also be at the table, it is stated, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said to be meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelensky in Riyadh today.
Expressing optimism about those talks, Trump further said Sunday night there were “big meetings” including Russia and Ukraine coming up, and that: “let’s see what happens with the whole Russia-Ukraine thing… I think you’re going to be having some pretty good results coming out of Saudi Arabia this week.”
