WASHINGTON/KYIV - The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency said Wednesday that the United States has paused intelligence support to Ukraine, on top of halting weapons shipments to the country.

John Ratcliffe, the CIA chief, said in an interview with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo that "(US President) Trump had a real question about whether President Zelensky was committed to the peace process, and he said let's pause."

The decision came after a clash between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, where Trump demanded gratitude from Zelensky for the aid Washington provided to Kiev. The Ukrainian leader was asked to leave the White House without signing a minerals deal with Trump as originally planned.

Zelensky has since been trying to mend the relationship with the US administration by efforts including sending a letter to Trump expressing his willingness "to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer," Trump said in his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

"I want to give a chance to think about that and you saw the response that President Zelensky put out," Ratcliffe told Bartiromo on Wednesday. "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'll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine," Ratcliffe said in an expression of optimism, adding that Washington and Kyiv would work together to "put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward." 

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Zelensky said Wednesday that his country plans to take the first steps towards peace in the near future.

"The first steps on the path to a just and lasting peace are incredibly important. We want to move forward speedily, in cooperation with the United States and all of Europe," Zelensky said on social media platform X.

Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, head of the President's Office, announced that he had discussed steps towards peace in a phone conversation with US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

"We exchanged views on security issues and the coordination of positions within the framework of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the US", Yermak said on Telegram.

He added that Ukrainian and US teams are set to meet soon to "continue this important work."