Trump Signals Ukraine Could Win Back All Territory, Pressures NATO to Confront Russia

by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff

UNITED NATIONS (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared that Ukraine, with the backing of NATO and the European Union, has the potential to reclaim all of its territory seized by Russia since the 2022 invasion, in what marked his strongest statement yet on the war.

Speaking after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Trump described Moscow’s prosecution of the war as “aimless” and said Russian President Vladimir Putin had revealed his country to be “a paper tiger.”

“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original borders from where this war started are very much an option,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Russia 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.”

Trump’s remarks marked a dramatic shift from earlier this summer, when he suggested Kyiv and Moscow would need to cede land to end the conflict. His latest statements instead suggested full Ukrainian restoration was possible — a message that buoyed Zelensky and his delegation.

“President Trump clearly understands the situation and is well informed about all aspects of this war. We greatly value his decisiveness to help end this war,” Zelensky told reporters. Calling Trump a “game changer,” Zelensky added that Trump’s grasp of battlefield realities had moved closer to Ukraine’s perspective and further away from Putin’s narratives.

During their meeting, Zelensky pressed Trump to push for stronger sanctions and to encourage European nations to halt Russian energy imports. “We need more pressure, more sanctions now with the United States, first of all (and) Europe,” Zelensky said. He also urged improvements to Ukraine’s air defenses and reiterated his call for Western security guarantees as part of a future settlement.

Trump, for his part, pledged continued U.S. weapons supplies to NATO, which allies then provide to Ukraine. “We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!” he wrote.

The U.S. president also appeared to endorse a more direct NATO response to Russian provocations. When asked if he supported shooting down Russian aircraft that violate alliance airspace, Trump replied: “Yes I do.”

Moscow, which currently occupies about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, dismissed the idea of any immediate negotiations and warned that any talks would require extensive preparation. Kyiv has long accused Russia of refusing to compromise while demanding maximalist concessions.

The shift in Trump’s tone comes amid escalating tensions following Russian drone incursions into NATO skies, increasing fears of a broader confrontation. European leaders, meanwhile, continue to wrestle with their reliance on Russian energy — a practice Trump derided as “funding the war against themselves.”

Whether Trump’s sharper rhetoric translates into new policy remains uncertain. But his public embrace of Ukraine’s maximalist goal — reclaiming all its occupied territory — injects fresh momentum into Kyiv’s diplomatic push at a critical moment in the grinding war.

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