Donald Trump’s latest remarks on the Russia-Ukraine war seemingly mark a major U-turn after he declared that he does not think Ukraine will be able to defeat Russia. The US President’s new stance comes after a “productive” call with Vladimir Putin on Thursday, followed by a tense meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky that reportedly ended in a shouting match.
Last month, while attending the UN General Assembly, Mr Trump penned on Truth Social that he believed that Ukraine, “with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form”. However, in a dramatic turn of heart, the US leader told reporters on Monday that while Ukraine could still defeat Russia, “I don’t think they will”. Mr Trump’s latest statements came as his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to prepare for a second face-to-face meeting with the Russian leader in Budapest, expected to take place in two weeks’ time.
Last month, Mr Trump described Russia as a “paper tiger” after he mocked the country’s army for its lack of progress and suggested Moscow was facing major economic problems due to the spiralling cost of war.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote. “This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like a paper tiger.”
However, when asked to explain his shifting approach of Ukraine’s war prospects, the president told reporters this week: “Well they could. They could still win it. I don’t think they will but they could still win it.
“I never said they would win it. I said they could. Anything can happen. You know, war is a very strange thing. A lot of bad things happen. A lot of good things happen.”
Mr Trump’s take comes after reports that Mr Zelensky is trying to rally European support for Ukraine after his meeting at the White House on Friday reportedly descended into a shouting match. According to reports, the Ukrainian leader came under pressure to cede territory to Russia.
During the meeting, the US president “threw away maps of the front line”. At times, it descended into a “shouting match” as Mr Trump cursed constantly, European officials told the Financial Times. According to reports, during his two-and-a-half-hour call with Mr Trump on Thursday, Mr Putin proposed swapping occupied land in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia for the rest of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Eventually, the Ukrainian delegation convinced Mr Trump to push for a ceasefire based on the front lines rather than handing more territory to Russia.
Mr Trump is said to have remarked that Ukraine would be “destroyed” if Mr Zelensky did not agree to surrender the Donbas region. In response, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would never give “terrorists” any “reward for their crimes”.
“We count on our partners to support this position,” the Ukrainian leader added on social media on Sunday.
