The US did not stop sharing defensive intelligence with Ukraine after US President Donald Trump paused all military aid to Ukraine, special envoy Steve Witkoff told FOX News reporters on Monday.
"My best understanding, Bill, is that we never shut off intelligence for anything defensive that the Ukrainians need," he told FOX News's Bill Hemmer when asked if the US military was fully sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
He added that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would discuss the matters regarding intelligence, along with weapons shipments with Ukranian officials in discussions set to take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
He added that he was unsure if the US was still supplying Kyiv with military aid after the Trump administration cut it off earlier this month.
"I think that aid was shut off for a bit of time. I'm really not sure where we are," he said.
Critical minerals deal in limbo
FOX then asked if Witkoff believed that the meeting in Jeddah could result in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signing a deal. The senior Trump advisor said that he was certainly hopeful because of positive indications from all relevant parties.
"I'd certainly hope so. I think that part of a mediation like this is to move the two sides closer to narrow the differences," he said. "We've gone a long way to do that with the Russians, and I'm really hopeful, all the signs are very, very positive, from Zelensky, from his next in command Yermak, from the Europeans, and I think that we're going over there with an expectation that we're going to make substantial progress."
Witkoff also emphasized that Ukrainian efforts to repair strained relations with the US could result in Zelensky signing Trump's proposed rare minerals deal.
"I hope so. Zelensky sent a letter to the president; he apologized for that whole incident that happened in the Oval Office," he said. "I think that was an important step, and there's been a lot of discussion between our teams, the Ukrainians, and the Europeans, who are relevant to this discussion as well. I would like to describe it as progress, so I would hope that there's a deal."
He added that while there were a few details that needed to be clarified, all parties at the negotiating table needed to be "transparent about what their expectations are."
Earlier in the interview, Witkoff also discussed the administration's efforts to release the remaining hostages in Gaza.
"We need a deadline for the release of hostages from Hamas's captivity in Gaza," US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Monday, stating "that's the only way it can work."