CIA Director John Ratcliffe has confirmed that the Trump administration has temporarily halted its intelligence sharing operation with Ukraine, following a tense exchange between the two countries’ leaders on Friday.

During an interview with Fox’s Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday, Ratcliffe was asked about the decision and stated that President Trump had requested a “pause” in sending weapons shipments and intelligence to Ukraine, but he did not provide further details.

According to Ratcliffe, the pause was prompted by President Trump’s concerns about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s commitment to the peace process, which arose after a meeting between the two leaders in the Oval Office. The meeting ended abruptly, and the planned signing of a minerals deal in exchange for U.S. commitments to Ukraine’s financial security did not take place.

Ratcliffe expressed his belief that the pause is temporary, stating that it “will go away,” although he did not specify when this might happen.

The impact of the pause on Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian attacks is currently unclear.

A CIA spokesperson did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment, and representatives for the Ukrainian government in Kyiv and New York did not immediately reply to an email requesting comment.

Ukraine has heavily relied on U.S. intelligence since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, including to counter and prevent Russian-launched cyberattacks. During the war, Russia has targeted Ukraine with destructive cyberattacks, causing power outages and disrupting satellite communications used by Ukraine’s military.

Since the war escalated in 2022, the U.S. has strengthened its diplomatic ties and collaboration with Ukraine.

In 2023, the FBI highlighted its intelligence sharing partnership with Ukraine, noting that it had provided “actionable intelligence” to its Ukrainian partners, including notifications that helped mitigate distributed denial-of-service attacks and counter disinformation.

The U.S. has also indicted several Russian government-backed hackers accused of launching destructive attacks on the Ukrainian government and other targets.