President Donald Trump is picking a new fight with Russia, asserting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that Ukraine can reclaim its territory lost during its war with Moscow.
“Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, describing Russia’s military as a “paper tiger.”
The remarks following Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy represent a major shift in his rhetoric regarding the war. Before Tuesday, Trump and many of his Cabinet members had repeatedly suggested that territorial concessions would be necessary to end the war.
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While he didn’t mention stalled Russia sanctions legislation, Trump’s comments about clawing back Ukrainian territory — specifically land lost since 2022, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Semafor — are his starkest sign yet of frustration with Russia and skepticism of Vladimir Putin’s interest in a peace deal.
Zelenskyy praised Trump’s words as “very positive.”
