Ukraine received "fair warning" from the White House before President Donald Trump ordered a halt to U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv this week, a senior administration official said on Thursday, likening the shock decision to striking a stubborn farm animal with a piece of wood.
The Republican administration announced the pauses this week after Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Oval Office meeting devolved into a shouting match, with the U.S. president and Vice President JD Vance excoriating the Ukrainian leader for being insufficiently grateful for the tens of billions of dollars in U.S. assistance sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded three years ago.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the pause is already having an impact on Kyiv, adding that the Ukrainians "brought it on themselves."
"The best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose," Kellogg said at an event Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations. "You got their attention."
Kellogg said it was made clear to the Ukrainians before last week's Oval Office meeting that the talks would focus on signing a critical minerals deal. The agreement, which the two sides still have not signed, would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare earth deposits and could be of value to U.S. aerospace, electric vehicle and medical manufacturing.
Trump administration officials have said the economic pact would bind the U.S. and Ukraine closer together and would give Russian President Vladimir Putin pause before considering malign action against Ukraine in the future. Zelenskyy had been pressing the White House for explicit security guarantees, to no avail.
Kellogg said last week's talks went sideways because Zelenskyy pressed Trump – who is trying to play the role of intermediary to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia – to side with Kyiv.
Zelenskyy later called the heated words "regrettable" and said he was ready to sign an agreement. He told European leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday he was grateful for their support and said the teams from the U.S. and Ukraine had resumed their work and hoped to have "a meaningful meeting" next week.
Separately, U.S. envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said Thursday he planned to travel to Saudi Arabia to speak to Ukrainian officials about a cease-fire with Russia and a "framework" on a longer agreement.
"We're now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh, or even potentially Jeddah," Witkoff told reporters.
A separate report said an American delegation traveling to Saudi Arabia would include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. They will meet Ukrainian officials, including Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Fox News said.
"Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason why the war continues is because of Russia," Zelenskyy said in his speech, which was published on the Ukrainian president's website.
But Kellogg said he couldn't guarantee a resumption of weapons deliveries even if Zelenskyy accepts the deal.
"That's up to the president," Kellogg said. He added, "You don't negotiate peace discussions in public. You don't try to challenge the president of the United States in the Oval Office."
Trump said in a speech before Congress on Tuesday that Zelenskyy had written to him to say he appreciates U.S. support for his country in its war with Russia. Trump said Zelenskyy told him that Ukraine is ready to negotiate a peace deal with Russia as soon as possible and would accept the minerals agreement with the U.S. to facilitate that.
Although Trump said he "appreciated" getting the letter, he did not say if it would affect his policy toward Ukraine.
The suspension of U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine will damage Ukraine's ability to defend itself against ongoing Russian attacks against military and civilian targets, according to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War.
The research group said the suspension of all U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine would also allow Russian forces to intensify their drone and missile strikes against the Ukrainian rear, affecting millions of Ukrainian civilians and the growth of Ukraine's defense industrial base.
