Zelenskyy explains US aid pause and its impact on Kursk operation

The temporary freeze of U.S. military aid to Ukraine did not affect the Defense Forces' operation in Russia's Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Time.

He noted that any suspension or pause in support does not benefit Ukraine on the battlefield. However, the aid halt "was not long enough to have a fundamental impact."

"Online someone wrote that they might turn off Starlink. I don't know whether that's true. But that would be very sensitive, in my view. And of course that pushed us to seek alternatives. We are working on that. I don't want to talk about it openly, but we are doing it," Zelenskyy said.

When asked what might have prompted the United States to take such a step, Zelenskyy suggested that Russia had influenced some members of the White House team.

"Their signal to the Americans was that the Ukrainians do not want to end the war, and something should be done to force them. Of course, that was disinformation. It's not true. The Russians don't want [to end the war], and we see that now, as we've always seen it. But this situation arose, most likely, due to a lack of dialogue [between the U.S. and Ukraine]," the Ukrainian president said.

Another reason, in his view, is that the United States wants to show Russia it is "in the middle" rather than siding with Ukraine. Zelenskyy emphasized that the U.S. team has been open about its intention to act as a mediator rather than taking a position.

"We told them, Well, okay, if you're not on our side, then at least stay in the middle. So if the Russians don't accept the full ceasefire that you proposed, we want to see additional sanctions. They don't need to be in place for long, just like the pause in our case wasn't. But you need to demonstrate that," Zelenskyy said, adding that he truly expects the United States to take these steps.