On Tuesday, September 23, U.S. President Donald Trump said he believes Ukraine is capable of “winning” the war with Russia and reclaiming all the territories lost during Moscow’s invasion.
His remarks followed a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in New York and marked a sharp reversal of the former president’s stance. Until recently, he had insisted that Zelensky “didn’t have the cards,” argued that time was working against Ukraine while Russia was prevailing, and advised Kyiv to make territorial concessions to end the conflict.
“Having looked into the military and economic situation of Ukraine and Russia, and having seen the economic difficulties facing Russia, I believe that Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is able to fight and WIN, regaining all of its territory within its original borders,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after his talks with Zelensky. According to him, “with time, patience, and financial support from Europe and especially NATO, restoring the borders from which this war began is entirely realistic.”
Trump called the Russian army a “paper tiger” and stressed that Russian citizens do not realize the scale of the economic damage inflicted on the country by President Vladimir Putin. “Putin and Russia are in BIG economic trouble, and now is the time for Ukraine to act. We will continue to supply NATO with weapons so that NATO can use them at its discretion,” he added.
The former president even suggested that Ukraine might not only “restore the country to its original borders” but, as he put it, “who knows, maybe go even further.” The prospect of Kyiv attempting to seize Russian territory—or even Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014—would almost certainly provoke anger in the Kremlin and renewed nuclear threats from hardliners.
“I thought resolving this conflict would be the easiest thing because of my relationship with Putin,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, that relationship means nothing.”
Meanwhile, the negotiation process remains frozen, and tensions between Russia and NATO have risen sharply in recent weeks. The alliance accused Moscow of violating the airspace of Poland and Estonia, while Norwegian authorities reported three such breaches since the beginning of 2025. During his meeting with Zelensky, Trump endorsed NATO’s right to shoot down Russian aircraft that enter allied airspace, though he clarified that any U.S. support would depend “on the circumstances.”