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US President Donald Trump has expressed that Ukraine might recover all its lands from Russia — potentially even more — following his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking a significant shift.
This surprising change comes on the heels of Trump urging NATO nations to intercept any Russian planes invading their airspace.
Trump also referred to Russia as being “involved in aimless fighting” three years into the conflict, shortly after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
What does Trump believe Ukraine can achieve?
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump said on his Truth Social network after his talks with Zelenskyy.
In his social media post on Tuesday, Trump dismissed Russia as a “paper tiger,” saying that “Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
He suggested that with Russia’s economic decline, Ukraine could reclaim its original territories and maybe even achieve more!
The US president has previously shown lukewarm support for Zelenskyy, with whom he had a huge televised Oval Office bust-up in February during which he told the Ukrainian “you don’t have the cards” to win.
But during his meeting with Zelenskyy on the margins of the UN General Assembly, Trump said he had “great respect for the fight that Ukraine is putting up. It’s pretty amazing actually.”
The warm reception Trump extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Alaska in mid-August left many Ukrainians stunned, as they believe that Moscow would continue its aggression without substantial external pressure.
How has the Ukrainian leader responded?
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his “personal efforts to stop this war” and echoed Trump’s call for European countries to stop buying Russian oil.
And after a series of recent incursions by Russian fighter jets and drones that have rattled Washington’s NATO allies in Europe, Trump said they would be within their rights to act.
“Yes I do,” Trump said when a reporter asked if NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.
Later on Tuesday, Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council that China could pressure Russia to end the war in his country, following a US call for Beijing to stop buying Moscow’s oil.
“If China truly wanted this war to stop, it could compel Moscow to end the invasion. Without China, Putin’s Russia is nothing,” Zelenskyy told the council, of which China is a permanent member.
