Donald Trump is set to hold crunch talks on cancelling American military aid to Ukraine - just hours after US spies were told to stop working against Russian cyber threats.
The President will call in senior cabinet officials Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth to mull over canning Biden-approved aid to Volodymyr Zelensky's forces - just days after an all-too-public spat with the Ukrainian premier in the Oval Office.
The Trump team is said to be divided on how to handle Ukraine following the exchange.
Some advisers, Bloomberg reported, had taken "extreme positions" against Zelensky and Ukraine, while others expect him to resign after a peace deal is reached - a key Russian request.
The President will call in senior cabinet officials Marco Rubio (left) and Pete Hegseth (right) to mull over canning Biden-approved aid to Volodymyr Zelensky's forces
REUTERS
Trump is also reported to have told Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron that he wants to see Europe's plan on how to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
Macron has said that France and Britain together are proposing a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine, which would cover air, sea and energy infrastructure attacks but not include ground fighting.
Under the Franco-British proposal, European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Macron added, though Downing Street has since tried to distance itself from his remarks.
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Trump expects an apology from Zelensky after the pair's vicious White House spat
REUTERSThe US President also expects an apology from Zelensky, as well as a declaration that he wants peace, before he is allowed to return to the White House to sign a minerals deal.
It comes as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a stop in work to contain Russian cyber-attacks as part of a "re-evaluation" of operations against Vladimir Putin.
Earlier last week, cyberspace security bigwig Liesyl Franz pointed to China and Iran - but not Russia - as the greatest threats to America's infrastructure.
The move directly flies in the face of a warning given as recently as last September by several US agencies, including the FBI and the NSA of systematic cyber attacks on America.
Top Democrat Chuck Schumer has warned team Trump is handing Vladimir Putin 'a free pass'
REUTERS
The groups accused the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of plotting attacks "for the purposes of espionage, sabotage and reputational harm since at least 2020".
The Trump administration has also begun to roll back efforts by the FBI and other bodies to warn about Russian propaganda.
The moves have led to severe criticism from within the US - top Democrat Chuck Schumer has warned team Trump is handing Vladimir Putin "a free pass" as Russia continues cyber-attacks on US infrastructure, and has called the administration's move "a critical strategic mistake".
