KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 Ukrainians were cautious Wednesday in their response to a surprise pivot in U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 views on their prospects for defeating Russia鈥檚 invasion, after he said they could win the three-year war and retake land captured by Moscow.
Russian officials, meanwhile, said developments on the battlefield showed Ukraine is unable to reclaim the occupied territory and dismissed Trump’s description of Russia as a 鈥減aper tiger.鈥
鈥淩ussia isn鈥檛 a tiger, it鈥檚 more associated with a bear,鈥 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. 鈥淭here are no paper bears. Russia is a real bear.鈥
Wary Ukrainians hope for solid US support
Some Ukrainians expressed hope that Trump鈥檚 words would be backed up by concrete support for Ukraine in Washington, while others were wary about the American president鈥檚 unpredictability.
鈥淲e need such support from America, from Donald Trump, and we hope that this will continue in the future 鈥 the same rhetoric, the same attitude toward us, toward Ukraine, and toward the war in Ukraine,鈥 Olha Voronina, a 66-year-old Kyiv resident, said.
Volodymyr Cheslavskyi, a 48-year-old soldier recovering from a war wound, said he considered Trump to be more interested in making money than helping Ukraine, and kept people guessing about his true intentions with contradictory statements.
鈥淗e can say different things each time 鈥 he supports Ukraine, or he does not support Ukraine,鈥 Cheslavskyi told The Associated Press in St. Michael鈥檚 Square in the Ukrainian capital.
Anna Khudimova, 43, said she believed her country鈥檚 armed forces could prevail on the battlefield against Russia鈥檚 bigger army.
鈥淏ut we cannot do it without the help of NATO, without the support of Europe,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f Trump influences the situation, then perhaps this can be realistic.鈥
Russia has occupied around 20% of Ukraine since it annexed Crimea in 2014. The all-out invasion began in February 2022.
US and Ukraine eye joint weapons production
In comments Tuesday at the United Nations and on social media, Trump took a swipe at Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 leadership, made cutting remarks about Russia鈥檚 military prowess and derided the Russian economy鈥檚 performance. He also said NATO countries should shoot down Russian warplanes entering their airspace, as .
Trump鈥檚 comments were an unanticipated departure from his previous positions on the war, when he was publicly cool, even at times hostile, toward Ukraine and apparently more
After taking office in January, Trump reversed the three-year U.S. policy of isolating Russia when he called Putin. He has also ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, has said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would need to negotiate swapping land in return for a peace deal with Moscow, and on social media called Zelenskyy 鈥渁 dictator without elections.鈥
A senior Ukrainian lawmaker said Trump鈥檚 latest remarks were unexpected but important.
鈥淲hat remains important to us is not only Trump鈥檚 words, but also whether he fulfills the earlier promises regarding decisive sanctions鈥 on Russia, Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, told the AP.
The United States and Ukraine signed earlier this year a deal granting Washington and other natural resources. Another agreement is in the works, with a Ukrainian delegation due in Washington next week for talks on joint weapons production, Ukraine鈥檚 Ambassador to the U.S. Olha Stefanishyna said Wednesday.
The potential deal focuses on drone manufacturing, where of new battle-tested technology, and was discussed 鈥渋n quite some detail鈥 between Trump and Zelenskyy on Tuesday, she said.
Kremlin says it is protecting Russia’s security
Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were due to address the U.N. General Assembly later Wednesday.
Trump said on social media Tuesday: 鈥淲ith 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
Max Bergmann, the Director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said that when he read Trump鈥檚 post, his reaction was, 鈥渢he U.S. is out鈥 and handing off to Europe.
鈥淚 feel that it鈥檚 the president sort of signing off, like: 鈥橶e鈥檒l keep sort of doing some stuff, but this is basically your problem,’” Bergmann said on the sidelines of a defense conference in Tallinn, Estonia.
Russia鈥檚 state television channels cast Trump鈥檚 comments as part of his efforts to shift the burden of dealing with the conflict to Europe and encourage it to buy more American weapons.
Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, challenged Trump’s comment that 鈥淩ussia has been fighting aimlessly.”
Moscow has been fighting to 鈥渆nsure our security and our interests and remove the root causes of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine 鈥 linked to the refusal by the previous American administrations and the Europeans to take our concerns into account,鈥 Peskov said Wednesday.
He also countered Trump鈥檚 description of Russia鈥檚 economic woes, arguing that despite some problems, the Russian economy has remained strong.
Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who serves as deputy head of the Security Council chaired by Putin, scoffed at Trump鈥檚 comments as an 鈥渁lternative reality.鈥 He predicted that Trump could change his mind again soon.
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Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine and Harriet Morris in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.
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