Zelensky, Trump to Talk Soon on Aid Suspension, Officials Say

A phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump is reportedly in the works, according to European and Ukrainian officials.

The planned call is said to address the sudden halt of US arms deliveries to Ukraine on Tuesday, July 1, which took Kyiv and Europe by surprise.

Politico, citing a European diplomat reportedly involved in the planning of the call, reported on Wednesday that the call will take place “very soon.”

“The US is informing Ukraine [of the decision] today in Kyiv and a phone call will also be organized very soon between Trump and Zelensky,” the diplomat said without naming a date.

“The US says this is not a pause, not a suspension. The US is still very much in the process of determining how best to support Ukrainian defense. This is still a priority.”

The Financial Times, citing “people familiar with the planning,” said the call might happen on Friday.

Kyiv said on Wednesday that officials were pursuing communication with their US counterparts without referring to a potential call between Zelensky and Trump.

“We are clarifying the situation. I think that everything will be clarified in the coming days,” presidential aide Dmytro Lytvyn was reported as saying by AFP on Wednesday.

The pause reportedly includes air defense missiles, guided bombs, and artillery shells – including the Patriot missiles that remain a lifeline for Kyiv’s survival amid intensified Russian aerial assaults.

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However, details surrounding the suspension, such as whether all promised weapon deliveries have been suspended, remain unclear.

Contradicting statements

After the White House confirmed the pause, the State Department downplayed it by saying the “commitment hasn’t changed.”

“This is not a cessation of us assisting Ukraine... This is one aspect, one situation, one event that has been changed,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told Kyiv Post at a press conference.

“There are multiple robust other options and efforts regarding the Ukrainian situation with weapons,” she said without offering further details before adding that “we haven’t paused sending weapons to Ukraine.”

The statement contradicted those from the White House and Pentagon, who confirmed that weapons deliveries have been halted.

“This decision was made to put America’s national security first, following a Defense Department review of global military assistance,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly in a statement.

The Pentagon said the pause is due to an audit of the US’s stockpiles.

“A capability review is being conducted to ensure US military aid aligns with our defense priorities, and we will not be providing any updates to specific quantities or types of munitions being provided to Ukraine, or the timelines associated with these transfers,” a Pentagon spokesperson said.

The contradiction is in line with Politico’s assertion that the pause has not been coordinated – especially considering Trump’s recent public nod to consider Patriot deliveries to Ukraine.

Who ordered the halt?

The publication, citing unnamed US officials, suggested that the Pentagon did not consult with the State Department on the pause for the aid already en route to Ukraine via Poland.

However, some US officials pushed back on the idea, saying the departments are in constant communication.

“The president and top officials expect the DoD to regularly review aid allocations to ensure they are in line with the America First agenda,” a White House official said.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) suggested that Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby is to be blamed for the fiasco.

“I think it’s all made by the DOD policy director, this Colby guy. We essentially don’t have a national security adviser,” McCaul told Politico.

“I’m not even sure [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio was consulted on this one … There’s internal division in the White House.”

John Ullyot, the former chief Pentagon spokesman, previously accused Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth of poor leadership after resigning.

“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president – who deserves better from his senior leadership,” Ullyot wrote in an opinion for Politico at the time.

Reuters, in another report, also accused Hegseth of pausing aid to Ukraine in March without receiving an explicit order to do so.

Kyiv Post cannot independently verify the claims against the Pentagon and Hegseth.