President Trump on Tuesday shifted his position on whether Ukraine should hold out for all the territory seized by Russia, saying on social media that he thinks Ukraine is in a position to win it all back.
It's a reversal from his long-held position that Kyiv would need to give up some of its territory to Moscow to end the war – such as Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
But now, "after getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation," Trump said he believes Ukraine – backed by the European Union and NATO – can win back all its territory.
"Why not?" he said in a post after he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, even suggesting that Ukraine could "maybe even go further than that!"
The reversal is the latest example of how Trump has swung between deference, frustration and indirect threats against Russia. Early in his second term, Trump boasted that his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin would help him broker a quick resolution to the conflict.
But as the war dragged on, Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin. In July, during a meeting with the NATO Secretary General, Trump lashed out at Putin and announced that he was sending Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine.
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As recently as last month – when Trump met Putin in Alaska to try to broker an end to the war – Trump had said he believed "some land-swapping" would take place. Zelenskyy has been resistant to that idea.
Afterward, Trump said the two countries needed to discuss "the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact. That means, the war zone."
But since the Alaska talks, there have been no signs that Putin is willing to meet Zelenskyy. Russia has ramped up its strikes on Ukraine, and there have been a series of incursions by Russian military aircraft into NATO airspace in the month since the talks.
Trump said he thinks NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft in such cases. "Yes, I do," he said in answer to a question from a reporter.
Asked whether he would back up NATO allies if that happened, Trump said: "Depends on the circumstance, but you know we're very strong toward NATO."
In his social media post, Trump said Russia looks like "a paper tiger" because the war has dragged on for so long, and said that the United States would continue to supply weapons to NATO. "Good luck to all!" Trump said.
Trump has so far resisted calls for tougher sanctions, insisting that European leaders first need to stop buying oil from Russia, as well as apply steep tariffs for major buyers of Russian oil, like China.
In a pointed speech to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said it was inexcusable that some NATO members were still buying Russian energy. "Think of it: they're funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one?"
Zelenskyy said he was hoping to see more sanctions on Russia, and said he supported Trump's push to get NATO members to stop buying Russian energy.
Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Slovakia's prime minister who seemed open to cutting off its imports. "I'm not sure the Hungarians are ready," Zelenskyy said. Trump said he hasn't spoken to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban about it yet. "I had a feeling if I did, he might stop," Trump said.
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