A 180 degree turn where there are. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said Tuesday that Ukraine could recover the entire territory occupied by Russia and return to its original borders. Until now, the Republican had argued at all times that Ukraine would have to accept the loss of soil as part of a peace agreement with Russia.
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and recover everything (the ground) of Ukraine back to its original form,” said the US president in a message on his social network, Truth, shortly after having met with President Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
The statement represents an entire Epiphany, given how critic Trump has been generally towards the claims of Ukraine and the benevolence with which he had treated instead of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. But also unleashes questions about the extent to which the United States will be willing to support kyiv in that recovery of territory, or if the president will once again give a flying in his position when new curves arrive.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and NATO in particular, the original borders from which this war began are a very good option. Why not?” The US President continued. Precisely, at the beginning of the Zelenski meeting, he had alluded to “good news” on the battlefield and had communicated to Trump the recovery of 360 kilometers of territory in the last fighting.
In his message, Trump is very critical towards Russia’s military capacity, which had once praised. “Russia has fought aimlessly for three and a half years in a war in which a Miliar power really had just needed a week to impose … This makes them look like a paper tiger,” writes the president, who also criticizes a war economy in which “almost all his money is destined to fight against Ukraine.”
Instead, Ukraine “maintains a great spirit, which does nothing but improve. Ukraine can recover its entire territory in its original form,” he predicts. Perhaps, even “could go further,” he says, indicating that the Ukrainian troops could return the screws and seize Russian territory. Something that has already happened in 2024, when the Ukrainian soldiers occupied part of the Russian region of Kursk until at the beginning of this year Moscow launched a counteroffensive to recover that ground. That counteroffensive was favored, in part, by Trump’s rejection to renew the US military aid that the Democratic Administration to kyiv had given until then.
“Putin and Russia find great economic problems, and now is the time that Ukraine acts,” said US president in his warmest public message towards Ukraine since the beginning of his mandate.
The relationship between Trump and Zelenski has gone through a deep evolution since the American almost kicked the White House Ukraine after abroading him very publicly in the Oval Office last February, between accusations of speech and threats that the guest leader did not have “the letters” to win the war.
Zelenski has been good care since then in halagar by active and passive to the white house tenant in each of his interactions. At its last meeting, together with European leaders in the US presidential office after the summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska last August, Ukraine was good care to wear a jacket and not the military outfit with which he had presented months before and that he had offended the old real estate promoter.
European leaders have also done everything possible to persuade Trump to put on the Ukrainian side, through calls, visits, praise and promise, in the case of NATO, to expand to 5% of the GDP his military expenditure, as the American claimed. One step, together with the commitment to buy American defense material to deliver it to Ukraine, which seems to have been fundamental in the geopolitical epiphany of the Republican.
At the beginning of the meeting, Trump had argued that NATO countries should tear down any type of.
“Yes, I believe it,” he answered a question from the press in this regard, regardless of the UN General Assembly in New York. When asked if he would support NATO’s allies, the Republican replied that “depends” on the circumstances. But he also clarified that, after the organization has committed to a military expenditure of 5% of the national GDP, its country is “very force with NATO.”
Trump spoke after a series of Russian airplane planes and drones of Poland, Romania and Estonia over the last weeks. In addition, Denmark and Norway investigate as a form of hybrid attack the incursion of drones into two of their airports. The episodes have unleashed criticisms about the ability to dissipate the alliance, which has promised to be further reinforced and resort to a statement made public by NATO, to “all the military and non -military forces necessary to defend and deter all the threats from all directions.”
The meeting between Trump and Zelenski, who has had approximately one hour, was the first since the summit with European leaders in the White House in August, immediately after the appointment between Trump and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska. At that time, the impression was that something was moving: Zelenski left Washington with the impression that there would soon be a trilateral peace encounter. And with the American promise that he would participate in the security guarantees for kyiv in the postwar period. As he pointed out in later days, possibly with an aerial contribution.
Since then, the perspective of a meeting between Zelenski, Putin and Trump has remained in a mere mirage. The American does not end up deciding whether he will impose new rounds of sanctions to Moscow, although he continually threatens. Something that does not seem to have changed, at least for the moment. Asked Tuesday about whether he still trusts the Russian leader, six weeks after his meeting in Anchorage did not yield progress, he replied: “I will answer it in a matter of a month or so.”
So far, the United States has imposed 50% punitive tariffs against India, the second largest world buyer of Russian oil, but has dodged to impose a similar punishment against the main client of Moscow, China. He has claimed, however, that Europe stops buying Russian energy.
On the eve of this Tuesday in the United Nations, Zelenski had pointed out that one of his objectives would be to address with Trump the issue of security guarantees. “I want to measure how close we are to understand the security guarantees that we will need,” said the Ukrainian leader.
Before the meeting with Zelenski, Trump saw the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The European leader assured in this meeting that the EU wants to end their Russian energy purchases, as the American claims. “We have already reduced it greatly, but there is still a bit that is entering … we want to impose tariffs on oil supplies that still reach the European Union,” he said, in comments to the press at the beginning of the meeting.
