U.S. President Donald Trump has appeared to dramatically shift his stance on the war in Ukraine this week, abandoning his long-running push for a negotiated peace and declaring that Kyiv should press ahead militarily to reclaim all of its occupied territory from Russia.
His comments, issued via his social media platform Truth Social on Sept. 23 after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, mark the sharpest rhetorical turn of his presidency on a conflict now in its fourth year.
Trump: Kyiv can ‘win all of Ukraine back in its original form’
In his post, Trump said he had reassessed the military and economic balance of the war and concluded that Ukraine, with European backing, was in a strong position to prevail.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote.
He argued that Russia had revealed itself as “a paper tiger,” bogged down in a war that “should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.” Citing Moscow’s economic troubles and public discontent, Trump said this was the moment for Ukraine to strike.
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“This is the time for Ukraine to act,” he added, while stressing that the United States would continue supplying weapons to NATO, for allies “to do what they want with them.”
The remarks stunned many observers because for months Trump had sought to help Kyiv and Moscow reach a peace agreement, having made ending the war in Ukraine one of his major campaign promises. His latest comments suggest that his hopes for brokering a diplomatic solution to the conflict are fading.
Zelenskiy welcomes ‘game changer’
Zelenskiy, who has repeatedly urged more Western backing, hailed Trump’s comments as a “game changer” and suggested they could embolden Ukraine to push harder against Russian forces. Russia currently occupies roughly a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, and its troops continue to grind forward in small increments despite facing mounting drone strikes and cross-border attacks on its oil infrastructure.
Ukraine has struck Russian refineries and petrochemical complexes hundreds of miles from the front line in the last week, disrupting Moscow’s fuel exports and raising the cost of the war for the Kremlin.
Some Ukrainians viewed Trump’s words with skepticism. Many recall his earlier statements blaming Kyiv for aspects of the conflict, his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, and his reluctance to expand U.S. sanctions or aid.
“This is a person who changes his mind maybe once a week,” said Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier in Zaporizhzhia whose full name was not given. “There’s no need to take his statements seriously.”
Analysts say Kyiv will depend heavily on European and NATO support if it hopes to exploit Russia’s vulnerabilities and retake its occupied lands.
John J. Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, wrote in a Substack post analyzing Trump’s Truth Social post that the president appeared to be trying to walk away from his inconclusive attempts to broker a peace deal between the warring Slavic countries.
“The important message in his post is that [Trump] is turning the Ukraine war over to Europe and the Ukrainians and distancing the United States from the conflict” while continuing to support Kyiv indirectly, Mearcheimer wrote.
“We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!” Trump had written on Truth Social.
According to Mearsheimer, “Those last four words neatly capture Trump’s intention of putting Ukraine in the rear view mirror.”
Moscow criticizes the US
The Kremlin swiftly chided Trump for his statements. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested Trump had been swayed by Zelenskyy and dismissed his assessment as “mistaken.” He also ridiculed Trump’s “paper tiger” remark, insisting that “there is no such thing as a paper bear.”
Moscow claims its incremental advances are deliberate and that its economy remains resilient, despite Western sanctions. Yet Russian officials acknowledged fresh strains this week: the finance ministry proposed raising value-added tax from 20 to 22 percent in 2026 to cover ballooning defense spending. Analysts described the draft 2026 budget as a “wartime budget,” projecting the highest deficit since the war began and forecasting growth to slow to just 1 percent.
Peskov said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would relay Russia’s perspective directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Meanwhile, former President Dmitry Medvedev mocked Trump’s about-face, saying he had “slipped into an alternate reality” and would soon “U-turn again.”
NATO warnings and escalation risks
Trump entered office vowing to end the war quickly, but over half a year into his second term, his peace overtures have stalled. His latest remarks reflect growing impatience in Washington with Moscow’s unwillingness to negotiate seriously.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Trump’s statement was not a change in position but an “acknowledgement of the reality on the ground” that Russia is in “BIG Economic trouble.”
Trump’s post coincided with a NATO warning to Moscow after Russian jets violated Estonian airspace on Sept. 23. NATO said its commitment to collective defense under Article 5 was “ironclad” and condemned what it called a “pattern of increasingly irresponsible behaviour.”
The incident followed a string of airspace violations across Eastern Europe, including Russian drones entering Poland and Romania, and disruptions near Denmark and Norway.
Trump, when asked if he believes NATO should shoot down Russian aircraft entering allied airspace, replied: “Yes, I do.”
At the United Nations, Zelenskiy urged world leaders to stop the Russian war before it sparks a wider arms race, warning that drone and artificial intelligence technologies could soon upend global security. He also announced that Ukraine would begin exporting combat-tested weapons to allies, pitching Kyiv as both a frontline defender and an innovator in modern warfare.
Reuters contributed to this report.
