Pentagon Denies That Hegseth Halted US Cyber Operations Against Russia

The claims come as the Trump administration has held talks aimed at ending the Russia–Ukraine war.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 24, 2025. Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

The Department of Defense denied claims in anonymously sourced media reports that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth had stopped U.S. cyber operations against Russia.

In a statement posted on social media platform X on March 4, the Pentagon’s rapid response team wrote that the secretary “has neither canceled nor delayed any cyber operations directed against malicious Russian targets and there has been no stand-down order whatsoever from that priority.”

The account reposted a link to a Bloomberg News report published earlier this week that cited an unnamed senior Pentagon official who said U.S. offensive cyber actions against Russia have not stopped despite a claim to the contrary by a cybersecurity publication.

A report from The Associated Press, which also cited a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that such activity had been paused.

The Epoch Times contacted the Department of Defense for comment on March 5.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, wrote on March 2 on X:

“CISA’s mission is to defend against all cyber threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure, including from Russia. There has been no change in our posture. Any reporting to the contrary is fake and undermines our national security.”

CISA also reposted a comment from Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She described as “garbage” a report from The Guardian that claimed the Trump administration has backed off fighting Russian cyber threats and said that a memo it cited “is not from the Trump administration.”

The administration “remains committed to addressing all cyber threats to US Critical Infrastructure, including from Russia. There has been no change in its posture or priority on this front,” she wrote in the post.

The reporting comes several days after President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy engaged in a public spat at the White House over a peace and U.S. mineral rights deal to end the Russia–Ukraine war.

Trump on the evening of March 3 paused all U.S. military aid to Ukraine and said that he still wants to make a deal with Ukraine if Zelenskyy wants peace. The Ukrainian president issued a comment on social media on March 4 asserting that he still wants a peace deal.

“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way,“ Zelenskyy wrote on X. ”It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”

Later on March 4, Trump appeared to soften his tone and praised Zelenskyy for sending him a letter signaling his willingness to sign a minerals deal.

“Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” he said in his speech to a joint session of Congress on the evening of March 4, adding: “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.”

Trump quoted Zelenskyy as saying: “My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.”

The Trump administration last month held talks with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on a possible peace deal, the first time that U.S. and Russian officials met to discuss the three-year-long war.