P
resident Trump’s unexpected announcement that Ukraine can win back all of its land from Russia and “maybe even go further than that” has been welcomed in Kyiv as a long-awaited vote of confidence. The biggest smiles, however, were likely to have been in the Kremlin.
Of all the head-spinning rhetorical reversals that Trump has made since his return to the White House, this was arguably the most startling. The US leader has previously called President Zelensky “a dictator”, accused him of starting the war and insisted that Ukraine must surrender some land in exchange for peace.
Yet after talks with Zelensky following a United Nations speech in which he urged the nations of the world to retreat behind their borders and reject cultural and ethnic diversity, Trump declared that the Ukrainian president was “a brave man” and that Russia was a “paper tiger”.
“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 in a social media post. He added: “We will continue to supply weapons to Nato for Nato to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!”
