The White House could be reversing its stance on the Ukraine-Russia War, as indicated by statements made by US President Donald Trump over the past week.
Trump had been pushing a territory swap for peace since his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July; however, this past week, he stated that he believes that Ukraine could regain territory it has lost over the course of the three-year conflict.
“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. With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option,” Trump wrote in a Wednesday Truth Social post.
The president added that he believed that Russia was “fighting aimlessly” in a war that “should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.”
He also said that he believed Moscow was coming off as a “paper tiger” and that Russia was in “BIG economic trouble.”
Trump also told Fox News's Brett Baier this week that he feels that his position regarding Ukrainian territory had changed.
Vice President JD Vance claimed that Trump’s statements were made based on the “reality on the ground,” during a Thursday event in North Carolina.
“We have engaged in incredibly good faith negotiations with both the Russians and the Ukrainians and I believe the president is growing incredibly impatient with the Russians,” Vance said, as reported by Politico.
“If the Russians refuse to negotiate in good faith, I think it’s going to be very, very bad for their country. That’s what the president made clear. It’s not a shift in position, it’s an acknowledgment of the reality on the ground.”
Senior administration officials told NBC on Wednesday that this was all part of a “maximum public pressure on Russia to get them to the table for a deal.”
Additionally, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Fox News that he believes Trump "understands, for today, that we can't just swap territories. It's not fair."
These statements led Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to dispute Trump’s claims, calling them a “mistaken thesis.”
“The fact that Ukraine is being pushed in every possible way to continue hostilities, and the idea that Ukraine can win back anything, is, from our point of view, a mistaken thesis,” Peskov said.
He added that the war was “to ensure our security and our interests and to eliminate the root causes of the conflict that now exists between Russia and Ukraine, and that exist more broadly in the area of European security.”
Peskov also acknowledged that the process of restoring relations between Russia and the US was proceeding "much more slowly than desired."
This comes as Russia has made two incursions into NATO airspace within the past month.
At the UNGA, Trump said that he believed that member states should shoot down Russian planes if they incur onto NATO territory.
However, when asked by journalists if he would support a NATO member if they did shoot down a Russian plane, Trump said that it would “depend on the circumstances.”
NATO members debated their policy in an emergency meeting over the incursions on Tuesday. CNN reported that nations such as Poland and Estonia pushed for a statement that would make it clear that Russian incursions would be met with force, but other European countries, such as Germany, preferred a less strong statement.
“NATO and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions. We will continue to respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing,” the final statement said.
As late as August, the Defense Department prevented Ukraine from striking deep within Russia after officials stopped Ukraine from firing any U.S.-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Biden administration had previously greenlit Kyiv’s use of long-range missiles, but the Trump administration now requires Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to give final approval before such a strike.
While ATACMS might not have changed the shape of the frontlines, it did allow Ukrainian forces to threaten Russian command centers miles beyond them.
On Wednesday, Zelensky warned the UNGA that Russia would expand the conflict in Ukraine to the rest of Europe, and urged the assembly to prevent "the most destructive arms race in human history.”
“Stopping Russia now is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead,” he added, as reported by the Guardian.
“Putin will keep driving the war forward wider and deeper. And we told you before, Ukraine is only the first.”