Trump with Zelensky at the UN: 'Ukraine would be able to take back their country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further!'

After meeting privately with Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump made an unprecedented show of support for his Ukrainian counterpart: "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," he posted on social media.

The supportive words represent a shift in the stance of the president, who in the meeting that ended in shouting matches at the White House earlier this year demanded Zelensky acknowledge that he was not winning the war and that he lacked "the cards" to do so. From then until now, the leaders have been bringing their positions closer together. Rapprochement that continued Tuesday on camera, with Trump expressing "great respect" for Ukraine's military efforts and Zelensky expressing thanks, repeatedly, for the Republican's backing.

"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. Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win," Trump wrote after he finished his one-on-one with Zelensky.

He also highlighted the Russian economic situation, "Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act."

Although the war report that the Ukrainian president communicated to Trump behind closed doors is not known, before entering he gave the press a preview of what he would say, highlighting that his soldiers had "occupied 360 kilometers this month." Progress he attributed partly to efforts on the ground and partly to the scheme introduced by the Trump Administration to continue to provide military aid through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

A channel that the Republican promised to continue to support: "We will continue to supply weapons to NATO."

Keep hitting Moscow's pockets

Both leaders also agreed before reporters on the importance of continuing to lash out at Russia's economy. "The biggest progress is that the Russian economy is terrible right now," Trump said when asked about progress since his last meeting with his Ukrainian peer.

Hours earlier, in his speech to the General Assembly, the U.S. leader had expressed readiness to impose new tariffs on Russia, but sent a message to Europe: "But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures... they have to immediately cease ALL energy purchases from Russia."

Zelensky supported this idea. He also called for "more pressure and more sanctions." The two were later joined by the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, when, in her own meeting with the U.S. leader, she said that Trump was "absolutely right" in his criticism of European purchases of Russian energy. "We’re on it," he promised.

There was a special mention of Hungary. Although Zelensky was skeptical that it would cut off its energy trade with Moscow, Trump said, "Well, he's a friend of mine [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán]. I have not spoken to him, but I have a feeling that if I did he might stop. I think I'll be doing that.

Moscow air raids

Trump also claimed that NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft that violate their airspace. Over the past few weeks, several Russian fighter jets and drones were detected flying over allied nations such as Estonia, Poland and Romania.

On whether the U.S. would help them, he said it depended on the case. Asked about the recent drone incident in Denmark, he replied that information was still lacking. Although for the moment the Danish government did not identify the perpetrator of the attack, he assured that he could not rule out that it was Russia.