UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine can win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader鈥檚 call on Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.
Trump offered his position in a social media posting soon after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the gathering of world leaders.
Trump in part wrote, 鈥淚 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. 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.鈥
The strengthened support from Trump, if it sticks, is a huge win for Zelenskyy, who has urged the American president to keep up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his brutal war.
However, the post did not include language about new U.S. sanctions or tariffs targeting Russia’s energy sector, although Trump has discussed both, including with European leaders. And, neither did the post discuss fresh direct U.S. arms sales to Ukraine, instead suggesting that NATO members would continue to buy American weaponry and then transfer it to Ukraine.
Trump going back to his 2024 campaign insisted that he would quickly end the war. And he鈥檚 frequently suggested that U.S. interests in the outcome were limited.
鈥淩ussia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win,鈥 Trump wrote. 鈥淭his is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like 鈥榓 paper tiger.鈥欌
In his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy was seeking additional U.S. help in defending his country from Russia’s onslaught of missiles, drones and bombs.
The two presidents, who have had , greeted each other warmly.
鈥淲e have great respect for the fight that Ukraine is putting up,鈥 Trump told Zelenskyy, who replied that he had 鈥済ood news鈥 from the battlefield.
鈥淲e will speak of how to finish the war and security guarantees,鈥 Zelenskyy said, thanking the U.S. leader for the meeting and for his 鈥減ersonal efforts to stop this war.鈥
As the fighting rages on, Trump said the 鈥渂iggest progress鈥 toward ending the conflict 鈥渋s that the Russian economy is terrible right now.鈥 Zelenskyy said Ukraine agreed with Trump’s call for European nations to further halt imports of Russian oil and natural gas.
Trump says the war was 鈥榮upposed to be a quick little skirmish鈥
In his speech to the General Assembly earlier Tuesday, Trump said the war in Ukraine was making Russia 鈥渓ook bad鈥 because it was “supposed to be a quick little skirmish.鈥
鈥淚t shows you what leadership is, what bad leadership can do to a country,” he said. “The only question now is how many lives will be needlessly lost on both sides.鈥
With his troops after more than Russia鈥檚 bigger invading army, Zelenskyy was meeting world leaders in New York and was due to speak at a special U.N. Security Council session on Ukraine.
Peace efforts set in motion by Trump since he returned to office in January appear to have stalled. with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a White House meeting took place more than a month ago, but the war has continued unabated.
Following those meetings, Trump announced that he was between Putin and Zelenskyy. But Putin hasn鈥檛 shown any interest in meeting with Zelenskyy and Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.
Push for sanctions and cutting off Russian oil
European leaders as well as American lawmakers, including some Republican allies of Trump, have urged the president to dial up stronger sanctions on Russia. Trump, meanwhile, has pressed Europe to stop buying Russian oil, the engine feeding Putin鈥檚 war machine.
Trump said a 鈥渧ery strong round of powerful tariffs鈥 would 鈥渟top the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly.鈥 He repeated his calls for Europe to 鈥渟tep it up鈥 and stop buying Russian oil.
Before meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump held talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said Europe would be imposing more sanctions and tariffs on Russia and that the bloc would be further reducing its imports of Russian energy.
European leaders have supported Zelenskyy鈥檚 diplomatic efforts, with some alarmed by the possibility that the war as they are facing what they have called Russian provocations.
NATO allies at Estonia鈥檚 request on Tuesday, after the Baltic country said that three Russian fighter jets entered its airspace last week without authorization.
Trump said he would back NATO countries that choose to shoot down intruding Russian planes but said direct U.S. involvement would depend on the circumstances.
New strikes in Ukraine as toll of war grows
Meanwhile, the full-scale war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, continues to take a heavy toll on Ukrainian civilians.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said this month that Ukrainian civilian casualties increased by 40% in the first eight months of this year compared with 2024, as Russia escalated its long-range missile and localized drone strikes.
Also, a U.N. Human Rights Office report released Tuesday described the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained by Russia in areas of Ukraine it has captured.
鈥淩ussian authorities have subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees in occupied territory to torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, in a widespread and systematic manner,鈥 the report said.
Russian aircraft dropped five glide bombs on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing a man, regional head Ivan Fedorov said Tuesday. In the Odesa region of southern Ukraine, Russian ballistic missiles struck the town center of Tatarbunary, killing a woman, regional head Oleh Kiper said.
Overall, Russian forces launched three Iskander ballistic missiles and 115 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. It said 103 drones were intercepted or jammed, but 12 drones and three missiles reached their targets at six locations.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 40 Ukrainian drones flying toward the Russian capital were shot down between Monday evening and midday Tuesday.
Flights were temporarily halted overnight in and out of Moscow鈥檚 Sheremetyevo airport, causing delays and cancellations, because of the attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported Tuesday that it intercepted 69 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
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Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.
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