Trump says Ukraine can "win all its land back" in shift from earlier stance

New Delhi, Sep 24: US President Donald Trump has said Ukraine could "win all of Ukraine back in its original form," a striking change from his earlier position that Kyiv might have to surrender territory to end the war with Russia, the BBC reports.

Writing on his Truth Social platform after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York, US President Trump said that with NATO and European backing, Ukraine could reclaim "the original borders from where this war started." He added that Russia’s economy was under severe strain, calling the country a "paper tiger."

"I now believe Ukraine can maybe even go further than that," he wrote, though without elaborating. He said his stance had shifted "after getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia military and economic situation."

Donald Trump has previously urged a ceasefire to stop the fighting and suggested Ukraine might have to give up land to achieve peace. In February, he told Zelensky that Kyiv did "not have the cards right now" to prevail, while in August he hinted Ukraine might have to accept Russian control of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk. Tuesday’s remarks therefore represent his new assessment yet of Ukraine’s chances of full victory.

Zelensky welcomed the comments as a "big shift" in US policy. Speaking at the UN, he said America was ready to offer security guarantees after the war, though he admitted there were "no specific details" yet.

Later, in a Fox News interview, Zelensky described Trump’s words as a "positive signal" that the US would "be with us to the end of the war." Earlier at the UN General Assembly, Trump also called on NATO states to shoot down Russian aircraft breaching their airspace, praising the alliance’s commitment to raise defence spending.