Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect comments made by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Read more of our reporting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Zelensky here.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his view that Kyiv will retake territories occupied by Russia following a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 23.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, 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 on his Truth Social following his meeting with the Ukrainian president.
“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 said, adding that Russia has been fighting its war “aimlessly for three and a half years.”
The post appears to mark a stark reversal in his administration’s policy and Trump’s past comments towards Ukraine’s occupied territories.
The comments come just a month after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin for a high-level summit in Alaska on Aug. 15, in which Trump vowed to end broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow predicated on situation along the current front line.
Moscow previously proposed a ceasefire that would see Kyiv withdraw its forces from Donetsk Oblast, giving Moscow full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as Crimea — an agreement that has been repeatedly rejected by Ukraine. Trump said on Aug. 15 that the two leaders had “largely agreed” on territorial swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine, drawing criticism from Kyiv and European allies.
Trump also previously said in April that Crimea “will stay with Russia,” amid negotiations to end the war.
“Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time. It’s been with them long before Trump came along,” Trump said, referring to the illegal 2014 Russian annexation of the peninsula.
In a U.S. peace proposal presented by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to European officials in Paris on April 17, the U.S. had drafted provisions to legally recognize Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and de facto accept Russian control over Ukrainian territory seized since 2022.
Trump’s latest comments on Ukrainian territory came after the fourth meeting between the U.S. president and Zelensky since Trump returned to office in January.
The Ukrainian president spoke about developments on the battlefield, saying Ukrainian troops had advanced some 360 kilometers (223 miles) in recent weeks and inflicted losses on Russian forces.
In an interview with Fox News following the meeting, Zelensky said he believed Trump’s position on swapping territories in exchange for peace has changed. “I really count on this, on the continuation of his attitude to the territorial question and the question of our sovereignty.”
“I think he understands, for today, that we can’t just swap territories. It’s not fair,” Zelensky added.
When asked by reporters about progress since his last meeting with Zelensky, Trump pointed to the state of Russia’s economy and Ukraine’s resilience.
“Well, the biggest progress is that the Russian economy is terrible right now,” he said. “It’s crashing. And frankly, Ukraine is doing a very good job of stopping this very large army. It’s pretty amazing.”
Following the meeting Trump added on Truth Social that “Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
Trump added in his post that the U.S. will “continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them.”
The Trump administration approved its first U.S. weapons aid packages for Ukraine funded by NATO allies under a new financial arrangement on Sept. 16, with the first batch of military equipment under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program arriving days later.
Zelensky confirmed on Sept. 17 that Ukraine will receive Patriot and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) missiles as part of a U.S. weapons aid package financed by NATO allies, although it has not been confirmed when, or if, the weapons have arrived.
BREAKING: Zelensky, Trump meet in New York amid surging Russia-NATO tensions
The meeting, their fourth since Trump returned to office in January, comes as tensions between NATO and Moscow flare up over Russian aerial incursions into allied countries.
