Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday (January 25) that the Donald Trump administration in the United States (US) had not stopped military aid to Kyiv.
“I am focused on military aid; it has not been stopped, thank God,” President Zelensky said at a press conference alongside his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu.
Zelensky did not clarify whether humanitarian aid had been paused. Ukraine relies on the US for 40 per cent of its military needs.
US aid to Ukraine remains uncertain
Zelensky's remarks came days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he would pause foreign aid grants for 90 days.
The future of US aid to Ukraine remained uncertain as President Donald Trump started his second term in office earlier this week.
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Trump repeatedly said he wouldn’t have allowed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to start if he had been in office.
But he was American president as fighting grew in the east of Ukraine between Kyiv’s forces and separatists aligned with Moscow, ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin sending in tens of thousands of troops in 2022.
Zelensky should've made deal with Putin to avoid war
On Thursday, Trump told Fox News that Zelensky should have made a deal with Trump to avoid the war.
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With Trump stressing the need to quickly broker a peace deal, both Moscow and Kyiv are seeking battlefield successes to strengthen their negotiating positions ahead of any prospective talks.
(With inputs from agencies)