If the current pause on US aid to Ukraine becomes permanent, the beginning of the end will surely be traced back to the White House meeting on Friday between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

Where did things go wrong?

Tempers began to flare on both sides when Zelensky brought up the need for security guarantees.

It was move that on one hand reflected the reality of Ukraine’s situation on the ground, but on the other angered his hosts, who have been pushing to reach a peace deal as quickly as possible, likely on terms favorable to Russia.

Here’s how the meeting went down.

A rare earth minerals deal between Ukraine and the US, a crucial first step to achieving peace in the region, has been swiftly halted after a fierce clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, one that ended with the Ukrainian president being kicked out of the White House.

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What caused the US to pause military aid to Ukraine?

A Trump official told The Associated Press they want to see that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is “committed” to reaching a peace deal with Russia, and fast.

The particulars of the aid pause are unknown at the present, but the officials added that the dramatic move is meant to ensure continued US support is “contributing to a solution.”

The US has reportedly paused military aid to Ukraine, the most serious sign yet of a major breakdown in the US-Ukraine alliance.

The pause, Trump officials told media outlets, is only temporary for now.

War planners estimate that Ukraine only has enough supplies to continue fighting Russia at current levels until the summer.

More details in our full report.

Speaking more cautiously, Britain said there were several possible proposals on the table for a possible Ukraine ceasefire. European countries, led by Britain and France, are looking at options for a peace proposal including Ukraine after last week’s Oval Office rupture between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

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Russia is categorically against the idea of potential deployment of European troops to Ukraine, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy in Vienna to international organisations said on Tuesday.

“Firstly, the European Union is not impartial, and peacekeepers must be impartial,” Ulyanov said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Secondly, Russia is categorically against it.”

Sir Keir Starmer has hailed the defence sector as offering “the next generation of good, secure, well-paid jobs”, after it was announced that defence ministers will set a target for spending money with small businesses.

Officials are looking to boost the access of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to Armed Forces supply chains, following the Prime Minister’s announcement that defence spending would be increased to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.

Sir Keir and Defence Secretary John Healey met SMEs in the defence sector, apprentices and students at a careers fair hosted in Downing Street on Monday.

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The acting governor of Russia’s southern Rostov region reported a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on different industrial sites, including one area near the border where an oil pipeline was on fire.

Rostov Acting Governor Yuri Slyusar also reported falling debris from a downed drone had hit an industrial site near the border.

Slyusar reported a third attack had been repelled near Novoshakhtinsk, where previous drone attacks had put an oil refinery out of action. Ukraine’s military said the refinery was again ablaze.

“As a result of a mass drone attack in Chertovsky district, a fire has broken out on an oil pipeline,” Slyusar wrote on Telegram.

He said workers had been evacuated from the area, just over the border from Ukraine, and no casualties had occurred. Emergency crews had been dispatched to the scene.

Trump’s national security adviser said Zelenskyy’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward.

“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” earlier Monday.

“And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?” Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy is becoming untenable.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Zelenskyy “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country” for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the United States.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been a vociferous supporter of Ukraine, said soon after the Oval Office meeting that Zelenskyy “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”

A Russian drone attack damaged energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Monday, triggering power cuts in the city and knocking out heating systems, local officials said.

“A strike has damaged energy infrastructure,” regional Governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram. “There are power cuts now in parts of the city.”

Odesa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov said the attack had knocked out three boiler plants, prompting officials to scramble to find alternative power sources to restore heating to city residents.