The directive comes as Russia has intensified cyber operations against Ukraine and NATO countries, according to previous U.S. intelligence and private sector reports.

Multiple U.S. officials tell CBS News that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued a directive to U.S. Cyber Command to pause planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions. The duration of the pause is unclear,

It appears that the U.S. no longer considers Russia a significant cyber threat, according to multiple new reports on a drastic policy reversal that has taken hold under the new Trump administration.

Newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claims his family was targeted by the outgoing Biden administration with an audit from the IRS. “Of course the outgoing Biden IRS rushed an ‘audit’ of the incoming SecDef. Total sham,” Hegseth wrote on his official X account Monday, including a photo of an IRS document addressed to him and his wife.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to pause cyber and information operations against Russia as Trump seeks to bring Putin to the negotiating table to end war in Ukraine.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth revealed Sunday on Fox News why the Pentagon will be opening up various positions and called out previous mandates under the Biden-Harris administration that led to the need for “fresh blood.

The defense secretary’s instructions, which were given before President Trump’s blowup with the Ukrainian president, are apparently part of an effort to draw Russia into talks on the war.