US resumes aid for Ukraine after breakthrough

The United States has resumed the flow of military equipment and intelligence assistance for Ukraine after Kyiv agreed a 30-day ceasefire proposal, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt confirmed that the aid has resumed, just one day after the major breakthrough was reached during US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.

The shipments, approved under the Biden administration, include artillery rounds, anti-tank weapons and HIMARS rockets, an anonymous official had earlier told CNN.

The deliveries had been paused since a remarkable Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting between US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which the American leaders berated Zelenskyy for allegedly being ungrateful for years of US assistance.

Tensions escalated dramatically after Zelenskyy raised doubts over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted in any negotiations aimed at ending the war, citing past agreements that the Russian leader broke in the years leading up to the full-scale war he launched on his eastern European neighbor in February 2022.

The White House visit was called off shortly after the rare public blowup, leaving an agreement on the development of Ukraine's critical mineral deposits that was to be signed that day unfulfilled. Negotiations remain ongoing over the proposal.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said Monday that the US never halted the flow of intelligence for Ukraine's defensive purposes amid the row.

Some of the weapons that were freed up after Tuesday's bilateral meeting between US and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia were already positioned in Poland when Trump ordered the halt to military assistance, according to CNN.

Polish Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski said on X Tuesday that weapons stored in the county of Rzeszow, near the Ukrainian border, had started flowing again.

The official told CNN that contractors in Ukraine who help Kyiv's forces to train and maintain US-supplied equipment have also resumed operations. It is unclear if they departed Ukraine when the pause was instituted. ​​​​​