Donald Trump was accused of “strengthening the hand” of Vladimir Putin by pausing military aid to Ukraine.
The US president was hit with an immediate backlash for the move which will weaken Kyiv as it fights against Putin’s war launched more than three years ago.
France led the criticism of the US president.
“Fundamentally, if you want peace, does a decision to suspend arms to Ukraine reinforce peace or does it make it more distant?” French junior minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad told France 2.
“It makes it more distant, because it only strengthens the hand of the aggressor on the ground, which is Russia.”
The White House announced it is pausing military aid to Ukraine as Trump seeks to turn the screw on Volodymyr Zelensky in the wake of the pair’s dramatic Oval Office bust-up.
A US official said the Trump administration was “pausing and reviewing” aid to Ukraine to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution”, the Associated Press reported.
See also: How long can Ukraine hold out against Russia without US aid?
Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal and wants Mr Zelensky “committed” to that goal, the official said.
But Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, slammed Trump’s halt to military aid.
He stressed: “On the surface, this looks really bad.
“It looks like he is pushing us towards capitulation, meaning (accepting) Russia’s demands. To stop aid now means to help Putin.”
Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Trump on Monday evening, No10 said on Tuesday, the latest in a series of calls between the two leaders as the West seeks a plan for peace in Ukraine's war with Russia.
But the PM’s spokesman declined to comment when asked if Trump informed Sir Keir of his plans to pause military aid to Ukraine.
"The prime minister and President Trump are focused on the same outcome, which is delivering a secure and lasting peace in Ukraine," the spokesman said
Poland’s deputy defence minister Cezary Tomczyk said that pausing US military aid for Ukraine is “bad news”.
The Kremlin unsurprisingly took a different line on the White House announcement.
“If this is true, then this is a decision that can really encourage the Kyiv regime to (come to) the peace process,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The American move came as the US President, who is pushing deal with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war, claimed European demands for US guarantees was showing weakness to the Kremlin.
The US president criticised Mr Zelensky for suggesting a deal to end the war with Russia “is still very, very far away”.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US - probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia.
“What are they thinking?”
He later said European countries had “acted very well” and were “good people”.
“We’re going to make deals with everybody to get this war (finished), including Europe and European nations. And they’ve acted very well. You know, they’re good people ... they want to work it out,” Trump said at the White House.
The latest developments followed Sir Keir restating his call for “strong US backing” for any European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister gathered leaders from Europe and Canada, including Mr Zelensky, for talks in London on Sunday.
Speaking in the Commons, Sir Keir again promised British troops and jets would be available to a peacekeeping force if a deal is done to end the war, along with a “coalition of the willing” from other nations.
The Prime Minister, though, said the proposed minerals deal between the US and Ukraine is “not enough” of a security guarantee on its own.
Plans for Trump and Mr Zelensky to sign the minerals deal were put on hold after the Ukrainian leader left the White House early following their Oval Office bust-up on Friday.
But Mr Zelensky has since suggested he is ready to sign it.
