The decision affects deliveries of ammunition, vehicles, and other equipment including shipments agreed to when Joe Biden was president.

It comes after a dramatic blow-up in the White House on Friday during which Donald Trump told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he was “gambling with” a third world war. The Ukrainian president was told to come back “when he is ready for peace”.

A senior administration official told Fox News that “this is not permanent termination of aid, it’s a pause”. Bloomberg reported that all US military equipment not in Ukraine would be held back, including weapons in transit on aircraft and ships or waiting in transit areas in Poland.