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The cut in intelligence sharing came before French president Macron warned Europe has to be ready for if the US was ‘no longer on our side’
The US has suspended its intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, as French president Emmanuel Macron said he was considering extending the nuclear umbrella to European allies.
Despite cutting the flow of information to help Ukraine, American officials say positive talks between Washington and Kyiv mean it may only be a short suspension.
President Donald Trump put military aid to Ukraine on hold on Tuesday. “We have taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Wednesday.
Comments from top US officials suggest the decision is part of broader negotiations between Mr Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate a peace deal with Russia.
Sir Keir Starmer reiterated that the US was a “reliable ally” at Prime Minister’s Questions and insisted “we must not choose between the US and Europe”.
Meanwhile, Mr Macron warned Europe had to be ready for if the US was “no longer by our side” during a televised statement on Wednesday night. Mr Macron also said he was willing to discuss offering European allies the protection of France’s nuclear capabilities.
EU leaders are planning emergency talks on Thursday on how to quickly increase their military budgets.
European Union leaders plan to hold emergency talks on Thursday to agree ways to quickly increase their military budgets after the Trump administration signaled that Europe must take care of its own security and also suspended assistance to Ukraine.
In just over a month, President Donald Trump has overturned old certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner, as he embraces Russia and withdraws American support for Ukraine.
On Monday, Trump ordered a pause to U.S. military supplies to Ukraine as he sought to press President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia, bringing fresh urgency to the EU summit in Brussels.
„Europe faces a clear and present danger on a scale that none of us have seen in our adult lifetime. Some of our fundamental assumptions are being undermined to their very core,“ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned in a letter to the EU’s 27 leaders, who will consider ways to access more money for defence spending and ease restrictions on it.
But perhaps the biggest challenge for the EU on Thursday will be to take a united stance at a moment when it’s fractured, since much of what the bloc does requires unanimous support.
Keir Starmer’s intense round of diplomacy on Ukraine over the past week has seen him rewarded with his highest poll ratings in six months, according to YouGov.
Conversely, anger over Donald Trump’s behaviour appears to have hit his closest ally in the UK Nigel Farage, whose own favourability score went down four points from 30 per cent to 26 per cent.
The prime minister jetted to Washington DC where he won plaudits for his handling of Donald Trump, before warmly welcoming Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street after Ukraine’s president left the White House after angry scenes with Trump and JD Vance in the Oval Office.
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A Russian missile attack has killed one person in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, and injured two, the regional governor has said.
Labour MPs have warned aid budget cuts could result in Britain’s departure from the world stage, with Russia and China filling the void.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was also accused of “taking the axe” to Britain’s “most effective tool for reducing global conflicts” by Labour’s Sarah Champion, who chairs the International Development Committee.
While several MPs welcomed the Government’s decision to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of the size of the economy from April 2027, ministers faced calls to reconsider the plan to achieve this by slashing development assistance aid from its current level of 0.5 per cent of gross national income (GNI) to 0.3 per cent in 2027.
Conservative former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell said: “Who is it who will fill the gap in all of this? It will be China and Russia. And of course it will be music to the ears of the many terrorist organisations which exist across Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central) said UK aid “makes the world safer and it saves lives”, noting: “Cutting the aid budget will undercut our ability to build global partnerships and alliances.
“When the UK helps countries to adjust to climate change, to grow and to prosper, we build our relationships and our influence. When countries like ours withdraw, China and Russia stand ready to step in.”
Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson has accused Donald Trump’s team of despising Europe after a furious row which saw vice-president JD Vance criticised for disrespecting Britain’s war dead.
Conservative peer Sir Nicholas Soames, 77, told the House of Lords that the US administration „despise Europe really“.
He also predicted that in future the “special relationship” between the UK and the US would not be “what it was”.
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Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that he will open debate about extending the French nuclear umbrella to European partners.
In a televised speech to the nation, he added that the ultimate decision on using nuclear weapons will remain in the hands of the French president only.
The UK and France are the only two nuclear powers in Europe, with Mr Macron citing the request of Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who wished to request the extension of the nuclear umbrella.
„We need reforms, we need to make choices, and we need to be brave,“ Macron said.
„[Merz] has called for a strategic debate on providing that same protection to our European allies… whatever happens the decision will be in the hands of the president of the Republic and the heads of the army.“
Macron also says he will hold a meeting of European army chiefs in Paris next week, and will also discuss defence plans with EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.
Addressing the rift between Ukraine and the US, President Macron said: „I want to believe that the US will stand by our side, but we have to be ready for that not to be the case.“
He repeated his willingness to commit French troops as a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached and said that France will double its army as it boosts defence spending.
„France has to recognise its special status – we have the most efficient, effective army in Europe,“ he says, also noting that Paris has nuclear weapons.
President Macron has stressed that Europe must continue to support Ukraine, and said that peace cannot be achieved “by the price dictated by Russia”.
Adding that Putin cannot be trusted, he said: “Russia started it in 2014 and we negotiated a ceasefire then and the same Russia has not respected that ceasefire so we need to maintain that balance and today we can no longer believe their word. Ukraine has the right to peace and security for itself.”
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: US cuts intelligence sharing with Kyiv – but Starmer insists Trump is ‘reliable ally’ – The Independent
