By — Geoff Bennett Geoff Bennett By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-suspends-intelligence-sharing-with-ukraine-officials-say Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio The U.S. and Ukrainian national security advisors spoke on Wednesday, with both sides stating that talks are moving in a positive direction to secure a minerals deal and accelerate peace talks with Russia. But U.S. officials also confirmed the U.S. has paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, which it has relied on in the battlefield. Nick Schifrin has the latest. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: It was another turbulent day for America's new policy toward Ukraine. The U.S. and Ukrainian national security advisers spoke, and both sides said talks are moving in a — quote — "positive direction" to secure a minerals deal and accelerate peace talks with Russia.But U.S. officials also confirmed the U.S. has paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, which it has relied on in the battlefield.Nick Schifrin joins us now with the latest.So, Nick, what has the U.S. paused and how important is it? Nick Schifrin: Senior U.S. officials today confirmed that, as part of the overall pause ordered by President Trump that includes military aid, all intelligence and information sharing will be paused.And that was confirmed this morning on FOX Business by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. John Ratcliffe, CIA Director: President Trump had a real question about whether President Zelenskyy was committed to the peace process. And he said, let's pause. And so I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed that to happen, I think, will go away and I think we will work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, as we have, to push back on the aggression that's there. Nick Schifrin: Now, the U.S. provides both offensive and defensive intelligence information to Ukraine. Let's talk about the defense first.The U.S. gives Ukraine radar and situational awareness of Russian launches inside of Russia and Belarus. Think Russian jets with bombs that hit Ukraine, Russian drones, Russian missiles. A U.S. official and a congressional official understand to me that this kind of — quote — "imminent force protection" will be exempted. And that means that the air defense cooperation, the air alert system cooperation will continue in Ukraine.Here's the offensive, though. Two congressional officials and a military official confirmed to me that the U.S. has paused assistance that allows Ukrainian strikes into Russia. Offensive strikes will be more precise. Ukraine can already launch these strikes by themselves into Russia, but without U.S. assistance, they will be much less precise.Now, the U.S. also provides targeting assistance to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines inside of Ukraine. It is not clear that assistance is being affected so far, Geoff. But, bottom line, the U.S. official tells me that, depending on the extent of this pause — quote — "It will cost Ukrainian lives" — unquote.There's also a strategic effect. European officials continue to tell me they feel that there is a genuine transatlantic break, and the most recent evidence of that came today. French President Emmanuel Macron said something that he really hasn't said publicly before, that he will consider using French nuclear weapons to replace the protection of U.S. nuclear weapons that the U.S. has provided for the last few decades.And he said this about a European plan for Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron, French President (through interpreter): This is a plan for a solid, lasting, verifiable peace. I would like to believe that the United States will stay by our side, but we have to be ready if this isn't the case. Nick Schifrin: That is a pretty fundamental but from America's oldest ally. Geoff Bennett: Yes, indeed.Separately, Nick, what did the U.S. announce today on how it's aiming to negotiate Middle East peace? Nick Schifrin: For the first time in known memory, the United States is negotiating directly with a foreign terrorist organization. The White House announced that Adam Boehler, who is currently a senior State Department adviser, he is nominated to be the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, is negotiating directly with Hamas.Those talks could cover a cease-fire. They could also cover the future of Gaza should the war end formally. But, tonight, President Trump met with hostage families and he delivered what he called a final warning for Hamas — quote — "Shalom Hamas means hello and goodbye. You can choose. Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered or it is over for you."There has been no response, Geoff, yet from Hamas to that. Geoff Bennett: More to come on that front.Nick Schifrin, thanks to you, as always. Nick Schifrin: Thank you. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Mar 05, 2025 By — Geoff Bennett Geoff Bennett Geoff Bennett serves as co-anchor and co-managing editor of PBS News Hour. He also serves as an NBC News and MSNBC political contributor. @GeoffRBennett By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin is PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent. He leads NewsHour’s daily foreign coverage, including multiple trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, and has created weeklong series for the NewsHour from nearly a dozen countries. The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2017 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In 2020 Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the NewsHour teams awarded a 2021 Peabody for coverage of COVID-19, and a 2023 duPont Columbia Award for coverage of Afghanistan and Ukraine. Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza; reported on the Syrian war from Syria's Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders; and covered the annexation of Crimea. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his Gaza coverage and a National Headliners Award for his Ukraine coverage. From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow award for its bin Laden coverage. Schifrin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Overseas Press Club Foundation. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). @nickschifrin