The Ukrainian leader assumes that US aid will continue to flow, the spy chief has said

US President Donald Trump froze assistance to Kiev to make sure Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky stops taking American help for granted, Washington's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has said.

Trump froze military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kiev after clashing with Zelensky at a meeting in the Oval Office last week. In a heated exchange, the US president accused the Ukrainian leader of "gambling with World War III" by refusing to negotiate peace with Russia.

"The president decided to put a pause on intelligence sharing along with military aid, really to send a message to Zelensky not to take the American people for granted," Gabbard told Fox News in an interview on Thursday.

She explained that the freeze came after Zelensky's statement that the conflict "would go on for a very, very long time," as well as the confidence he showed that "American aid and support would continue to flow his way."

When asked if the suspension on intelligence sharing had been lifted following the Ukrainian leader's recent claim that he was ready for a ceasefire, Gabbard replied that it had not. She added, however, that the decision could be reversed "if things continue to go in the direction that they are."

"There is a distinction... intelligence going towards any offensive strikes was paused, but any intelligence going towards defending Ukraine against attacks coming into their country would continue," Gabbard stated.

Trump's special envoy on the Ukraine conflict, Keith Kellogg, said on Thursday that the US president wants to "aggressively" apply leverage to both Kiev and Moscow to push them towards negotiations. Ultimately, Trump wants "to stop US entanglement in an endless proxy war," Kellogg said.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump wants to be a "peacemaker" in the Ukraine "proxy war," and sees Zelensky's refusals to negotiate as "sabotaging and undermining" US peace efforts.

READ MORE: Ukraine conflict a Russia-US proxy war Rubio

Moscow has long described the Ukraine conflict as a NATO proxy war against Russia. The Kremlin has repeatedly signaled its readiness for peace negotiations but has rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire, arguing that it would only give Kiev breathing room to rearm and resume the conflict.

(RT.com)