Turkey may consider sending troops to the peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if necessary, media reports said on Friday.
“The issue of contributing to a mission … will be evaluated with all relevant parties if deemed necessary for the establishment of regional stability and peace,” Turkish Defense Ministry sources told Daily Sabah.
The Ministry source made the remark amid the deteriorating relationship between Ukraine and the USA following a heated debate between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump during their meeting in the White House last week.
US Cuts Off Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine
Amid straining bonds since Trump assumed charge as the President for the second term, the US has cut off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
Washington is pushing Russia and Ukraine towards peace talks that may help in ending the conflict.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Wednesday that the U.S. had also, for the moment, ended sharing its intelligence with Kyiv, although it could be short-lived after Zelenskyy said his heated exchanges with Trump in the Oval Office had been “regrettable” and that Ukraine was ready for peace talks with Russia.
“I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause [that prompted Ukraine’s president to respond] I think will go away,” Ratcliffe told the Fox Business Network as quoted by Voice Of America.
“I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that’s there, but to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward,” he said.
Since the start of the war in 2022, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with significant intelligence, including critical information its military needs for targeting Russian forces.
Ukraine Military Aid Paused
Earlier, the Donald Trump administration paused military aid to Ukraine, days after President Zelenskyy got involved in a fiery verbal spat with the US President during their meeting in the White House.
“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace,” a White House official told CBS News.
“We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” the official told the news channel.
The US has been a major supplier of weapons to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022.
However, there has been a shift in the US approach towards the war after President Donald Trump took charge of his office for the second term in January.
