Donald Trump’s Ukraine stance has taken a dramatic turn. After months of suggesting Kyiv should concede land for peace, the former president now says Ukraine can win back all territory seized by Russia. The reversal, announced after his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the UN, signals Trump’s boldest shift yet on the war.
In a Truth Social post dropped just after his face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump called Russia a “paper tiger” that has been “fighting aimlessly” in a war that should have ended “in less than a week.”
“After seeing the economic disaster Russia is in, I think Ukraine, with the support of NATO and the EU, can fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote, adding: “Why not?”
The comment is a dramatic break from Trump’s previous efforts to broker a deal with Vladimir Putin that floated the idea of “land swaps.” It also comes as Zelenskyy ramps up his campaign to keep the world’s attention on Russian atrocities—including the abduction of Ukrainian children, which he highlighted in a UN event co-hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump, meanwhile, told the UN he’d slap Moscow with harsher sanctions—but only if Europe fully cuts itself off from Russian oil. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that more sanctions are indeed coming before year’s end.
Whether Trump’s newfound confidence in Kyiv’s chances marks the death of his peace-brokering ambitions remains unclear. But one thing’s certain: Moscow won’t be thrilled that the former dealmaker-in-chief is now openly rooting for Ukraine to win everything back.
