Right before Trump-Zelensky clash, Pentagon was ordered to halt offensive cyber ops against Russia

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025. Zelensky on February 28 had told Trump there should be "no compromises" with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the parties negotiate to end the war after Moscow's invasion. (AFP)

Prior to the unprecedented heated argument between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in Washington, Pentagon was ordered to pause the offensive cyber operations against Russia, a New York Times report says.

According to the report, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered Pentagon’s US Cyber Command to halt the operations against Moscwo. The order was ‘handed down’ just on the day when Zelensky met Trump.

While the extent of the pause is still now clear, the New York Times report says that the decision was to encourage Moscow to join the peace talks. Initially, Hegseth’s order was first reported by ‘The Record’, a cybersecurity publication, the NYT report added.

The NYT report further added several US officials have noted that Russia has been consistently attempting to penetrate the American networks. In last one year, incidents of ransomware attacks on American institutes such as hospitals, civic bodies have gone up, the NYT report added.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has expressed concerns over change of regime in the United States. In a meeting in Geneva, Turk said that there is a deep worry among many on "fundamental shift in direction" in Washington. However, he didn't mention US President Donald Trump in his remark.