‘Big shift’: Trump now says Kyiv can win back ‘all of Ukraine’

UNITED NATIONS, United States - US President Donald Trump said on Sept 23 that he believed Kyiv could retake all its occupied lands and that Ukraine should act now with Russia facing “big” economic problems, remarks that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky hailed as a “big shift”.

But it was unclear if Mr Trump’s words would be matched by a major change in US policy, such as a decision to impose heavy new sanctions on Moscow. Mr Trump has previously suggested Ukraine give up territory in order to make peace.

“Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly after he met Ukraine’s leader on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

“After seeing the Economic trouble (the war) 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,” he said, describing Russia as a “paper tiger”.

The astonishing turnaround came shortly after Mr Trump also called for Nato countries to shoot down any Russian jets that violate their airspace.

Mr Trump also said Russia was “fighting aimlessly” after three years of war, in an apparent change of heart just over a month after

he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

The US president has previously shown lukewarm support for Mr Zelensky, 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.

Mr Trump’s tone contrasted greatly with his red-carpet treatment for Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska last month, part of an ostensible push to expedite an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky has been urging the United States to ramp up sanctions pressure on Russia to coerce it into entering negotiations to end the war launched in February 2022, a call he repeated at the United Nations.

The Ukrainian leader told reporters after his meeting with Mr Trump that it had been “good, constructive,” but declined to go into detail about much of the substance of their conversation.

He said they had discussed Russia’s stuttering economy and that “there was an understanding” that Mr Trump would be ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine when the war is over.

He said that Mr Trump had the influence and power to be a “game changer” for Ukraine in the war, noting also that China retained influence over Russia.

The only firm commitment from Mr Trump in his post was for the United States to “continue to supply weapons to Nato for Nato to do what they want with them,” an apparent reference to a new mechanism allowing Europe to buy US weapons for Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters, Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy cast scepticism on Trump’s message.

“Don’t get so excited about every tweet,” he said.

‘Escalation trap’

During his meeting with Mr Zelensky on the margins of the UN General Assembly, Mr Trump said he had “great respect for the fight that Ukraine is putting up. It’s pretty amazing actually”.

Mr Zelensky thanked Mr Trump for his “personal efforts to stop this war” and echoed Mr 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, Mr Trump said they would be

within their rights to act.

“Yes I do,” Mr Trump said, when a reporter asked if Nato countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.

Mr Trump, however, deflected questions about whether he believed Russian leader Vladimir Putin was still a reliable negotiating partner despite Moscow’s continued attacks on Ukraine.

“I’ll let you know in about a month from now, okay?” Mr Trump said when asked if he still trusted Mr Putin.

The 79-year-old Republican has previously, and repeatedly, given deadlines of two weeks to make a decision on whether to take steps including fresh sanctions against Russia.

Tensions between Russia and Europe over Ukraine have escalated with the recent spate of aerial violations.

Nato scrambled jets after three Russian MiG-31 fighters on Sept 19

breached Estonian airspace

for some 12 minutes, prompting Estonia to call for a meeting of the UN Security Council and talks with Nato allies.

Fellow Nato member Poland said earlier this month that

Russian drones had repeatedly violated its airspace

during an attack on Ukraine, in what Warsaw called an “act of aggression”.

Germany reacted cautiously to Mr Trump’s comments on shooting down Russian planes, highlighting the need to avoid an “escalation trap”.

“Level-headedness is not cowardice and not fear, but a responsibility towards your own country and towards peace in Europe,” German defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Sept 23.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Sept 23 she discussed Russia’s airspace violations with Mr Trump at the UN, and agreed on the need to cut Moscow’s energy revenues. REUTERS