Trump attacks Russian military, backs Ukraine to retake lost territory

Trump attacks Russian military, backs Ukraine to retake lost territory

Donald Trump disparaged the Russian military and backed Ukraine to retake all its occupied territory in an astonishing about-turn on the war.

In a post on Truth Social, made after talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations in New York, the US president said a return to “the original borders from where this war started is very much an option”.

“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,” he wrote.

Mr Trump said “time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO” could help Kyv win back lost territory, and said Russia was in “economic trouble”.

He said Moscow had been “fighting aimlessly” for three-and-a-half years – and had it been a “real military power” it would have defeated Ukraine in less than a week.

“This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger’,” he added.

Mr Zelenskyy told Sky News US correspondent Mark Stone it was a “big shift” from his US counterpart.

He later admitted he was surprised by Mr Trump’s comments, telling Fox News’ Special Report he has a better relationship with the president than before.

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Trump’s patience not ‘infinite’

Mr Trump also appeared to pour cold water on his hopes of persuading Vladimir Putin to sign a peace deal.

Speaking to Emmanuel Macron at the UN summit, he said their relationship had turned out to be meaningless.

Just last month, Mr Trump rolled out the red carpet for the Russian president at a summit in Alaska – in a push to expedite the war’s conclusion.

Before returning to the White House, he repeatedly claimed he’d be able to end the conflict in 24 hours.

Speaking at the UN Security Council, his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, admitted ending the war had proven an “extraordinary challenge”.

He said Mr Trump had “worked on it tirelessly”, but warned Russia his patience is not “infinite”.

The US president has previously suggested Ukraine will never be able to reclaim all the territory Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Ukraine has lost large areas of land in the east of the country.

In the Donetsk region, Russia now controls about 70% of the territory. Kyiv’s forces have been pushed back to four cities analysts have dubbed the “fortress belt”.

Moscow has partly annexed three other regions, too: Luhansk in the east, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson further west.

Trump attacks Russian military, backs Ukraine to retake lost territory