US Stops Supplying Intelligence to Ukraine

WASHINGTON DC, THURSDAY - United States President Donald Trump has intensified his pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to his version of a ceasefire plan. After deciding to halt military aid to Ukraine, this time, the U.S. has cut off all intelligence reports that they usually supply to Ukraine to assist in the war.

This was announced by the Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, on Wednesday (5/3/2025) local time or Thursday (6/3/2025) Indonesian time. The cessation of intelligence supply follows the suspension of arms assistance to Ukraine, which began earlier this week.

"We must ensure that Ukraine cooperates if it wishes for a ceasefire and peace negotiations to take place," said Ratcliffe in an interview with Fox News.

When asked further about the cessation, Ratcliffe did not elaborate much. He only stated that it is temporary. This means that if there is a change in circumstances deemed positive by Trump, the assistance might be resumed. Ratcliffe could not guarantee this.

The U.S. intelligence reports have been highly beneficial for Ukraine in anticipating missile and drone attacks from Russia. The war began on February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine due to its disapproval of Kyiv's desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Without intelligence assistance, Ukraine risks losing more lives.

In the war, Ukraine operates weaponry provided by the United States. Among them are ATACMS missiles and HIMARS artillery rocket systems. Both rely on intelligence reports to locate Russian military targets and anticipate attacks from Russia.

"It is utterly outrageous for us to withhold information from the Ukrainian people who are fighting and dying," criticized U.S. Representative Jim Himes from the Democratic Party regarding Trump's decision. Himes is a member of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.

Outside of military casualties, Ukraine has recorded at least 12,000 civilian deaths. As many as 2 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries in Europe.

Zelenskyy has said he is willing to negotiate with Russia if two conditions are met. Ukraine wants Russia to return five territories it occupied during the conflict – including the Crimean Peninsula – and a security guarantee from the US to deter Russia from invading again.

To achieve this, Zelenskyy said he was ready to step down as head of state if Ukraine's membership in NATO was guaranteed. He is also willing to give the US a very large exploitation quota to access Ukraine's rare earth reserves.

However, that desire collapsed during Zelenskyy's visit to Washington DC last week. The US refused to provide military security guarantees to Ukraine. According to Trump, if there were US companies operating in Ukraine's rare earth mines, it would be enough to prevent the risk of a Russian attack.

Trump also told Zelenskyy not to ask for the return of five Russian-occupied territories and that Ukraine's intention to join NATO should be canceled.

In addition, Trump seemed to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and instead blamed Zelenskyy for the war in his country. As a result, Trump, US Vice President JD Vance, and Zelenskyy clashed in front of reporters during a press conference.

After the incident, Trump announced the end of all aid to Ukraine. According to Ratcliffe, this shows that Trump is not afraid to take extreme measures to achieve peace in Ukraine.

For the White House, the tactic has paid off. On Tuesday, Trump received a letter from Zelenskyy stating that Ukraine is ready to start a new, good-faith relationship with the US.

In a speech to the US Congress, Trump revealed that the letter said Ukraine was ready to resume rare earth metal extraction agreements. In addition, Trump said he had spoken with Putin who said he was ready to hold peace talks with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said in a social media post that peace could be achieved under the cooperation of the US and Europe. "Ukraine wants lasting peace, not just a ceasefire. We want the war to stop forever. If we coordinate under the leadership of the US, everything can be achieved," he said.

He said there were positive developments in Ukraine-US relations. It seems that soon, Zelenskyy and Trump will meet again to improve relations. He revealed that Ukrainian Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak had spoken with White House Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

"Next week, there should be certainty about the results," Zelenskyy tweeted on social media.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, European countries held an emergency meeting to discuss the latest developments. They also wanted to discuss security on the continent because the US is no longer willing to help.

"Europe faces latent dangers on a scale far greater than we have ever imagined," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ukraine was not a major topic at the meeting. In Europe, Russia has 183 billion euros in frozen assets that could be used to support Ukraine, but there was no discussion of that.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said each member country is urged to increase its defense budget to 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Previously, the defense budget was 2 percent of GDP.

The US is pouring 3.4 percent of GDP into NATO. An amount that Trump considers unfair. Moreover, there are seven NATO members whose contributions are below 2 percent of their GDP. Therefore, Trump asked European countries to pour 5 percent of their GDP into NATO if they still want US support.

(AP/AFP/Reuters)