President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to US assistance to Ukraine after a disastrous Oval Office meeting as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to engage in peace talks with Russia.

A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal to end the more than three-year war sparked by Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, and wants Zelensky “committed” to that goal. The official added that the US was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to "ensure that it is contributing to a solution”. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.

The moment comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorised assistance to Ukraine in 2019 as he sought to pressure Zelensky to launch investigations into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump’s first impeachment.

Trump in the leadup to his 2024 election win vowed to quickly end the war in Ukraine. He's expressed increasing frustration with Zelenskyy over the war, while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce in the conflict is reached.

Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelensky for suggesting that the end of Russia's war against Ukraine likely "is still very, very far away".

President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to US assistance to Ukraine after a disastrous Oval Office meeting as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to engage in peace talks with Russia.

A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal to end the more than three-year war sparked by Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, and wants Zelensky “committed” to that goal. The official added that the US was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to "ensure that it is contributing to a solution”. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.

The moment comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorised assistance to Ukraine in 2019 as he sought to pressure Zelensky to launch investigations into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump’s first impeachment.

Trump in the leadup to his 2024 election win vowed to quickly end the war in Ukraine. He's expressed increasing frustration with Zelenskyy over the war, while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce in the conflict is reached.

Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelensky for suggesting that the end of Russia's war against Ukraine likely "is still very, very far away".

“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelensky added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”

Trump's national security adviser said Zelensky’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the US administration will be able to deal with going forward.

“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said on Fox News' "America’s Newsroom" earlier Monday. "And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?”

Waltz added another layer of doubt about US support as other high-profile Trump allies have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelensky is becoming untenable.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Zelensky “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country” for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the United States.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been a vociferous supporter of Ukraine, said soon after the Oval Office meeting that Zelensky “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change”.

Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelensky and Europe and the US about the way ahead.

“He is not interested in ending the war,” said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “He thinks Russia is winning. ... And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured.”

Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelensky's visit last week that would have given the US access to Ukraine's critical minerals in part to pay back more than $180 billion in aid the US has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House has also billed such a pact as a way to tighten US-Ukrainian relations in the long term.

The signing was scrapped after the leaders' Oval Office talks went off the rails and White House officials asked Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation to leave.

Trump on Monday, however, suggested he hasn't given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal”. He added that he expected to speak to the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, on Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track.

Fitzpatrick after the lengthy call predicted the “deal will be signed in short order”.