OAN Staff James Meyers
8:31 AM – Monday, March 3, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. Cyber Command to pause all cyber operations against Russia, including offensive actions, sources close to the situation said.
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The defense secretary gave the order to the head of the command, Air Force Gen. Tim Haugh, in late February, officials said. However, it is unclear how long the order will last.
A senior U.S. defense official declined to comment on the decision “due to operational security concerns.”
“There is no greater priority to Secretary Hegseth than the safety of the Warfighter in all operations, to include the cyber domain,” an official told NBC News.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement that its “mission is to defend against all cyber threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure, including from Russia. There has been no change in our posture.”
The move comes after President Donald Trump has looked to establish diplomatic ties with Russia, including restoring embassy staffing, as the Trump administration has looked to end the war.
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky clashed in the Oval Office on Friday, causing their relationship to hit a standstill.
“He’s got to say I want to make peace,” Trump said before he departed the White House on Friday. “He doesn’t have to stand there and say about ‘Putin this, Putin that,’ all negative things. He’s got to say I want to make peace. I don’t want to fight a war any longer.”
The intense meeting caused a delay in the signing of an agreement that would have granted the U.S. a massive ownership stake in Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals, which are used to create a variety of tech products.
Meanwhile, ransomware attacks against U.S. hospitals, cities, and infrastructure have increased over the past year.
Microsoft said in November that Russia had increased its cyber operations, primarily targeting Ukraine and NATO nations.
“Russian threat actors have focused on accessing and stealing intelligence from Ukrainian warfighters and the international partners that supply them weapons. The techniques employed have the potential to cause unintended damage by posing risk to computer networks globally,” the company noted its 2024 digital defense report.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the need to get Russia to the negotiating table, but he also said that it remains unclear if Putin is ready or willing to enter into an agreement to end the war.
“You’re not going to bring them to the table if you’re calling them names, if you’re being antagonistic,” he told the network. “That’s just the president’s instincts from years and years and years of putting together deals as someone who’s in business.”
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