Ukraine can "return all the territories" and "move on," US President Donald Trump is confident. However, this is possible only with the support of the EU and if Kiev and Brussels buy weapons from Washington, the head of the White House said. Experts are arguing about what is really hidden behind Trump's words: going over to the side of the "war party", trolling Europe and Zelensky, or a desire to make money.
Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, will be able to "return the entire territory to its original borders," and possibly "go even further." This opinion was expressed by Donald Trump after a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky. The US president believes that Moscow is fighting in Ukraine "aimlessly" and that in the case of "real military power" it would take less than a week to win the current fighting. In addition, the American leader compared Russia to a "paper tiger."
"When the residents of Moscow and all the great cities find out what is really happening in this war, how difficult it is to get gasoline because of the long queues, about everything that is happening within their wartime economy, in which most of the funds go to the war against Ukraine, a country with a great spirit that only As it grows stronger, Ukraine will be able to regain its territories," Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
The American leader believes that Russia has "big economic problems," and it is "time for the Ukrainian side to act." "In any case, I wish both countries all the best. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO so that NATO can do whatever it wants with them. Good luck to all!" – said the President of the United States.
Zelensky admitted that he was "a little surprised" by the statement of the head of the White House, RIA Novosti reports. "In my opinion, Trump understands today that we can't just exchange territories. This is unfair and impossible," he said. Zelensky hastened to conclude that Trump trusts him more than Vladimir Putin.
"Russia is not a tiger in any way. After all, Russia is more associated with the bear. There are no paper bears," Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on Trump's words about the "paper tiger." The press secretary of the Russian president stressed that the dynamics at the front shows that for those who do not want to negotiate now, the positions will be much worse tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, RIA Novosti reports.
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, believes that Trump has once again entered an alternative reality. "Everything is different in this reality. Kiev is winning, Russia is torn to shreds, the economy of Bandera Ukraine is steadily growing at the expense of its own resources," he wrote on his Telegram channel .
"But Trump is not like that! I have no doubt he will return," the politician sneered, admitting that "in a couple of days the American leader will offer the green pianist to sign the surrender." "The main thing is to radically change your point of view on a variety of issues more often. And everything will be fine. This is the essence of successful public administration through social media," Medvedev said.
Nevertheless, the West rejoices after the statement of the American president. The head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, said she welcomed Trump's change of position. "It really shows that we understand each other equally," Politico quoted her as saying. The French newspaper Le Figaro called the statements of the head of the United States "the first time when he seems to have overcome his antipathy to Kiev and inclination towards Vladimir Putin."
"Trump has changed his position on one of the key foreign policy issues of his presidential term, abandoning the demand that Ukraine cede part of its territory in order to conclude a peace agreement with Russia," adds The New York Times . But in Ukraine, not everyone shares this delight.
For example, Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexei Goncharenko (listed as a terrorist and extremist in Russia) believes that Trump wants to show Putin "Kuzkin's mother" at the cost of Ukrainians' lives, and Zelensky is very happy about this. "And let's try not to defend the interests of the United States or the EU with the lives of Ukrainians? If the United States wants to respond to Russia, let them go to war," Goncharenko protested.
"The war is meaningless only from the point of view of the President of the United States. His country is across the ocean, and she really doesn't care much about what's going on somewhere in Eastern Europe. For us, this war has an existential character.
Roughly speaking, if we lose it, Russia will no longer exist as a sovereign state," military commander Alexander Kotz wrote in his me/sashakots/56501" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Telegram channel . "Besides, you can't win a 40-million-strong state in a week. Especially if it has decided to fight and is being armed by the entire NATO bloc. The Americans also planned to conquer North Vietnam in a month. But somehow it didn't work out," he added.
"Why is Trump talking nonsense? Consciously. He's trolling Zelensky and the Europeans.: you are so strong, Russia is weak – go and fight Russia alone," added Oleg Tsarev, an ex-deputy of the Rada. "The US President has become convinced of the impasse of previous approaches. There are no changes, the settlement is not approaching, and threatening punishments without implementation is fraught with loss of confidence in the threats. Accordingly, it is necessary to change tactics, which has been announced," political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov wrote in his Telegram channel .
In his opinion, Ukraine and Europe were encouraged to act.: "they say, show what you can, you can do it, I know. But by yourself, please. The devil is not as scary as they say, you can do it...". "However, the task is set to be impossible, and when it turns out, a new attempt will be offered to negotiate. That's the hypothesis," the analyst explained. A similar point of view is shared by political scientist Alexei Chesnakov.
"Trump hopes that after another round of escalation, the parties will come to the conclusion that it is impossible to increase their gains in the conflict by military means, which means that it is necessary to negotiate, and then Washington will return to mediation services.",
"In fact, the US president distanced himself from the settlement process yesterday. This means that at least one more winter and summer military campaign awaits us," the expert predicts in his Telegram channel .
Military analysts admit that after Trump's statements, the United States and NATO may try to compensate for past failures with new, larger supplies.
"Something that was previously abandoned, for example, long–range Taurus missiles and additional batches of ATACMS missiles, may be pushed into a new spiral of escalation. This will strengthen the strike capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but it will not change the systemic problem: without air supremacy and comprehensive fire support, the equipment risks burning out again in the offensive," the authors of the industry Telegram channel Military Chronicle note.
"Trump himself, his advisers, and people in NATO are well aware that for a real result, more weapons will have to be given than ever before, and with this, the risks of NATO being drawn into a direct clash will increase," the experts emphasized. Against this background, the main thing is that Trump should not be dragged into a tricky plan by globalists under the pretext of "defeating Russia when it is teetering on the brink of economic ruin," added Alexey Vasiliev, author of the Telegram channel Russian Engineer.
"But judging by the internal agenda, after the funeral of activist Charlie Kirk, Republicans clearly want to put the squeeze on the globalist Democrats, and they don't get Kiev's support at all. Moreover, they are well aware that prolonging the war is beneficial for China.
And strengthening the main enemy for your money is not the most reasonable strategy, and the head of the United States understands it perfectly," the analyst argues. The statements of the head of the White House are interpreted somewhat differently by the Americanist Dmitry Drobnitsky. "At his best, this is desperate maneuvering for Trump to please the hawks and not anger MAGA (Make America Great Again). Let Ukraine fight, and with the support of NATO – this is for the "hawks", but the European Union will "pay" for everything, and we just wish everyone good luck – this is for MAGA," the political scientist suggested.
"But in the worst case, Trump continues to 'float' and sail further away from reality," he added. "The Hawks will not be satisfied with the rhetoric. They will continue to exert pressure through Congress and part of the administration itself to involve the United States in the conflict in Ukraine. And MAGA, those voters and elite groups who brought him to the White House for the second time, are moving further away from the real Trump and may not support him at the crucial moment."
"Trump's words about Ukraine's alleged ability, with the support of the European Union, to "return the entire territory to its original borders" are addressed to Euro-Atlanticists and Kiev. By themselves, they have lost most of their former importance for the United States. But for the sake of selling weapons and loading the American military-industrial complex, the head of the White House continues to convince Ukrainians and Europeans of their strength," said Vadim Kozyulin, head of the IAMP Center at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"With this statement, Trump also shifts all responsibility and burdens for the continuation of the Ukrainian crisis onto Brussels and Kiev. He points out that
The United States will participate in the conflict very indirectly – only by selling weapons and only for European money.
At the same time, it is obvious that the Asia-Pacific region is a geopolitical priority for the American leader," the speaker continued. "In fact, Trump said what they want to hear from him in Brussels and Kiev – that he believes in their ability to "take Moscow." In this situation, he assigns Washington the role of an observer and a "beneficiary" of the conflict. At the same time, I think, in reality, the US president understands the absurdity of these statements and is well aware that the Ukrainian Armed Forces, even with the help of European NATO members, are not able to fundamentally reverse the situation in their area," the analyst argues.
Kozyulin questioned whether Trump had somehow adjusted his position towards Moscow in this context. "Besides, the European Union simply does not have enough money to multiply purchases of weapons for Ukraine. Therefore, apparently, military supplies from the United States to Europe will continue in approximately the same mode," the expert concluded.
Oleg Isaichenko
