appeared to shift his rhetoric about the war in , following a meeting on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, 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 wrote in his social media platform Truth Social.
Roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, is under Russian control, much of it throughout the war. Crimea, however, was well in 2014.
Ukraine has been able to regain some territory captured in the first months of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, though Moscow’s forces have been putting pressure along the entire front line for months and made incremental gains.
But US President Trump was optimistic over Ukraine’s chances, following his meeting with Zelenskyy on Tuesday.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe, and in particular NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” Trump wrote.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy addressed the comments with skepticism. “Don’t get so excited,” he said.
Zelenskyy: US will ‘push Russia toward peace’
Trump said Russia had been fighting “aimlessly” in a war that a “real military power” would have won in less than a week.
“Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act,” the US president said, adding that he wished both countries well and that the US will “continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them.”
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy responded to Trump’s assertions by saying he believes that Washington would “push Russia toward peace.”
“I met with President Trump just now, and we spoke about how to finally bring peace, and we discussed a few good ideas, and I hope they will work,” Zelenskyy said at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York.
“I’m grateful for this meeting, and we expect America’s actions to push Russia toward peace. Moscow fears America and always pays attention to it,” the Ukrainian president added.
Europe’s security tied to Ukraine
The shift in tone comes as Russia has increasingly engaged in provocations along NATO’s border.
Denmark’s Copenhagen Airport halted operations on Monday after multiple drones were spotted in the area.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the incident was “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.” Though who deployed the drones has yet to be established.
Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonson spoke with DW about the security situation in Europe.
“I don’t want to speculate, but just as Frederiksen said, we do take note that there’s been a number of incursions into allied airspace. So I’m thinking about Estonia. I’m thinking about Poland and also about Romania. And this has occurred. The perpetrator has been Russia.” Jonson said.
Jonson said that supporting Ukraine is “an investment into our own security, because I think to my mind, Ukraine right now is the shield against any risk of further Russian military expansion.”
Edited by: John Silk
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