In an abrupt change showing his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said Ukraine could win back all of its territory from Russia with the help of its European allies. Trump has previously said both sides would have to cede land to end the war. Russia currently controls around one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014. After a speech at the UN General Assembly where he called on European allies during his address to immediately stop buying oil from Russia, Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with Zelenskyy that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter the alliance’s airspace. He followed that with comments in a social media post after the Zelenskyy meeting saying 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.” “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. Zelenskyy noted the “big shift” in Trump’s comments while speaking alone at a news conference, adding that the US leader’s understanding of the situation on the ground in Ukraine is now much clearer. “Trump had a relationship with Putin and he trusted him. Putin was telling Trump fairytales,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Trump as a “gamechanger.” “I told Trump that Putin will not wait for the end of his war in Ukraine — he will try to find a weak spot in NATO and this is already happening…Putin will want to ‘exchange’ one war for another.” Trump said he could impose sanctions on Russia to stop the fighting but without similar actions from Europe, “we’re all wasting a lot of time.” Sanctions, along with security guarantees in the event of a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, are areas Zelenskyy is hoping to get White House support during their discussions. In response to Trump’s social media remarks, Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told reporters: “Don’t get so excited about every tweet.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she welcomed Trump’s shift in his view on the war, saying, “we are very positive about this, because these are all the right things.” “Yes, we should stop buying Russian energy. Yes, Ukraine should win the war and all these other statements that [Trump] made today regarding Ukraine and Russia,” Kallas said. Trump also appeared to give Ukraine a pledge of military support saying the US will continue to supply weapons to allies “for NATO to do what they want with them.” Zelenskyy also noted that Trump was “ready” to give Ukraine security guarantees after the war is over.
NN: Its not going to be that easy