Administration officials said Wednesday the U.S. is withholding critical wartime intelligence from Ukraine as a way to force President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into peace talks with Russia on President Donald Trump’s terms.

The Central Intelligence Agency fired a slew of recent hires this week, three people familiar with the matter said, cuts that current and former U.S. intelligence officers warned would risk damaging U.

If firing CIA officers would prompt them to "risk treason" by spilling nation's secrets, they need to part with the agency, which is the thinking of Director John Ratcliffe.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe details the capture of a long-wanted terror suspect, more U.S. allies working alongside the Trump administration and ongoing negotiations with Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered that intelligence cooperation with Ukraine be halted as well as military aid, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday.

The United States has temporarily cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine, officials said on Wednesday, the latest blow to the relationship between the Trump administration and Kyiv. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed the decision in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday morning.

The U.S. has paused intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday, piling pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cooperate with U.S. President Donald Trump in convening peace talks with Russia.