WASHINGTON, D.C. (WZMQ) – One day after a high-profile meeting with President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday.
“If a nation wants peace, it still has to work on weapons. It’s sick. But that’s the reality,” said Zelenskyy. “Not international law. Weapons decide who survives.”
Zelenskyy urged the U.N. for more battlefield support and tougher sanctions on Russia after a Tuesday meeting with Trump. Shortly after that meeting, the president expressed a major shift in his attitude, when compared to just a few months- even weeks ago.
The president said Tuesday on Truth Social he believes Ukraine could regain all its territory with European and NATO help, adding Moscow’s economy is faltering.
“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. 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’s post read. “Putin and Russia are in big economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
It’s a sharp shift from Trump’s earlier calls for Ukraine to compromise on land — and signals a change in his relationship with Zelenskyy, which seemed fractured just months ago.
“You’re gambling with World War 3,” Trump told Zelenskyy during a heated Oval Office exchange in February.
“I think it’s fair to say that at this point, Trump sees Putin as more of the troublemaker, more of the one who’s not coming to the table,” said John Deaton, U.S. Marine veteran, former federal prosecutor and 2024 GOP Massachusetts U.S. Senate nominee.
Deaton says the shift could signal a change in U.S. and NATO support from a defensive posture to an offensive posture.
“But supplying weapons of an offensive nature, you know, is very different,” said Deaton. “The real issue to me is, is that President Trump signaling that he is okay with long range missiles striking the interior of Russia by Ukraine?”
The stronger stance comes as Russian aggression spikes, including incursions into NATO airspace. Deaton says Trump’s firmer tone may be strategic — aimed at pushing Putin to the table after last month’s summit in Alaska fell short of expectations.
“It’s The Art of the Deal 101. That’s him negotiating, letting Putin know that ‘This is what I’m capable of doing. You can’t pin me down’ — to get him to the table,” said Deaton.
But questions still remain about how Moscow’s partners — including China and North Korea — will react.
“As Russia loses both economically and on the battlefield, the real question is what is China’s reaction? Do they step up and fund Russia? I think that President Trump is trying to put more pressure on China to prevent that from happening,” said Deaton. “If we squeeze Russia enough and it really starts impacting the people of Russia, the war becomes more and more unpopular for Putin. At the end of the day, he’s a dictator — no doubt — but he’s also a politician who’s in power.”
