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Incident snapshot: Trump’s attitude turns sharply, high-profile support for Ukraine
On September 23, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump met face-to-face with Ukrainian President Zelensky at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City.After a brief closed-door conversation, Trump cast a series of high-profile statements in public and on social media, showing that his stance on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict had changed significantly.
Contrary to the previous vague hint of "ceding territory for peace", he made it clear this time that Ukraine has the ability to recover all territories occupied by Russia with the support of European allies and NATO.
What followed was a more radical call-NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft that violated their airspace, while those European countries that continued to buy Russian energy were pointed out by him: they were financing a war against themselves.
Speaking of the situation in Russia, Trump claimed that Moscow is falling into "enormous economic trouble", and its military power is only a "paper tiger".Zelensky quickly responded positively to this series of remarks, believing that this means that Trump's understanding of the position on the battlefield has become clearer, and it has also won a new political lead for Ukraine.
What is the reason for such an earth-shaking change in position? What impact will Trump's sharp change in attitude have? "Today's Special Reading" gives you an in-depth interpretation of this sudden shock.
Foreign media observation: Alaska's unsuccessful mediation makes Trump's patience exhausted?
The dramatic turn of Trump's attitude towards Ukraine is another manifestation of the unpredictable Trump-style "transactional diplomacy". Many foreign media have observed from different angles that a geopolitical gamble with "extreme pressure" as its core has already opened, and the real motivation behind it, the potential impact on the alliance system, and the far-reaching impact on the global strategic balance have all aroused the close attention of the world.
From “pushing for reconciliation” to “total victory,” Trump’s patience is exhausted?
The most important focus of foreign media attention is clearly Trump’s mutation in attitude toward Ukraine. The REF and the Washington Post both stressed that this “sudden” and “big” shift contrasts clearly with his previous “cutting ground” argument, and behind it may be his “impatient” feelings about Putin’s continued rejection and escalating the conflict. After all, recently, Trump tried to mediate the situation in Alaska with Putin, but obviously these efforts ultimately failed, and now this shift is most likely a response to this unsuccessful attempt.Trump's attitude toward Russia is a big shift: he said Ukraine has the ability to defeat Russian troopsRadio Liberty | Mutation: Trump says Ukraine is'well positioned to defeat Russia '）
Lawrence Friedman, an honorary professor of war studies at King's College London, said in an interview with the REF that Putin did not show a willingness to resolve the conflict, in addition to putting out "completely unrealistic conditions", which may also be an important external factor that prompted Trump to adjust his position.
The Financial Times noted in particular that Trump made clear in his meeting with French President Macron that “Russia should have stopped” the war, which was different from his previous statements that he blamed both sides for blatant responsibility. The Washington Post said more directly that Trump claimed that Ukraine could fully recover all territory’s arguments and has even far surpassed many Ukrainian policy makers’ cautious assessment of the most optimistic recent prospects.Financial Times | Trump: Ukraine has the ability to'regain all lost ground '）
Shooting down the Russian plane: a tough stance or a game of fire?
At the same time, Trump's radical remark of calling on NATO members to shoot down Russian planes that violated their airspace, which ignored the fragile ecology of geopolitics, has aroused concerns about the escalation of the situation.
Media reports such as the Associated Press, the Financial Times and REF pointed out that Russian drones and fighter jets have frequently invaded the airspace of Poland, Estonia, Romania and other countries recently, and even once affected the operation of Danish airports, making the vulnerability of NATO's eastern flank fully exposed. (Related reports:Financial Times | Trump: Ukraine has the ability to'regain all lost ground 'Trump: I believe Ukraine can "recover all lost land" with NATO assistanceRadio Liberty | Mutation: Trump says Ukraine is'well positioned to defeat Russia '）
However, whether the United States would directly participate in such military operations, Trump’s statement was ambiguously “depending on the circumstances” and reserved an oil-slip flexibility space for the United States. The Financial Times and the Guardian at the same time cited US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s cautious view that for Russian airspace infringements, NATO should usually take interceptions rather than direct shelling unless the Russian aircraft actively launched an attack.The Guardian | After seeing Zelensky, Trump turned again: supporting Ukraine to "recover lost ground"）
The President and the Secretary of State clearly stated on the principles of international military operations:
Even at the top level in the United States, no consensus has been reached on the risks of escalation.
Sanctions roll out, who will pay for Europe’s winter?
On the podium of the UN General Assembly, Trump pointed the finger at Europe's energy dependence on Russia, criticized its continuous purchase of Russian oil and natural gas as an "embarrassing" behavior, and bluntly said that it was "funding the war against itself", and even threatened to implement "strong tariffs" if it did not change. Both The Guardian and REF delve into the actual dilemma facing Europe behind this call.
The report noted that countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, due to their deep dependence on Russian energy, openly opposed the immediate cessation of imports.Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Seijardo said in an interview with the Guardian that without Russian oil and gas it would not be possible to guarantee national energy security, which is entirely a "physical issue".
At the same time, alternatives are also being actively explored within the EU, including the possibility of advancing the cessation of Russian LNG imports to 2026, and studying more targeted differentiated measures for countries such as India that are still buying Russian energy. measures, rather than arbitrary comprehensive tariffs. In this regard, the Washington Post also reviewed Trump's previous practice of imposing high tariffs on Indian goods, as well as the negotiations that may be cancelled at present, trying to provide a sample for flexible and complex sanctions strategies.
Will Trump’s “verbal check” Zelensky be able to pay?
Naturally, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed high appreciation for Trump's change in position, calling it a "huge change" and praising Trump's understanding of the battlefield situation in Ukraine has now become clearer. Both REF The Guardian and The Washington Post reported Zelensky's positive response.
Zelensky stressed that Western countries should be alert to Russia’s potential expansion intent, saying that Putin would not wait for the natural end of the war, but would proactively look for the “weaknesses” of Europe and NATO. In addition, he also revealed that he was seeking U.S. support in strengthening Russia’s sanctions and postwar security, and said Trump was “ready” to help with these issues. This positive response is both an open affirmation of Zelensky’s new stance to Trump and an attempt to take this opportunity to eventually transform his unpredictable diplomatic shift into a more concrete and substantial security commitment to Ukraine.
After the big turn: who is praising, who is laughing?
The international community reacted to Trump’s latest remarks to two extremes.Ref that Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, reacted lightly and deformedly, saying, “Don’t be so excited about every tweet,” suggesting that Moscow’s actions won’t be easily controlled by its statements.
The reaction of European politics is obviously different. In an interview with REF, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaya Kallas positively said that these statements are "all in the right direction". The Washington Post quoted Latvian President Linkevich as saying that "the Russians have gone too far this time" and welcomed Trump's change. French President Macron also praised Trump's statement as "very correct" after meeting with him, believing that this is a good opportunity to support Ukraine in the context of Russia's economic difficulties. These voices show that in the eyes of many European leaders, Trump's turn is not a signal of chaos, but may be an opportunity for the western camp to strengthen unity.
The outlook of the "Ultimate Communiqué" style to put pressure on Putin to complicate the situation in Russia and Ukraine
Trump's dramatic change in position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is undoubtedly a major adjustment in his diplomatic strategy. From the vague argument of "ceding territory for peace", he suddenly shifted to public support for Ukraine's "comprehensive victory". This change not only once again shaped his new posture on the international stage, but also brought complex chain reactions to the Western camp.
It is not only like a correction of past "mistakes", but also seems to be a foreshadowing for future political games.
There is no doubt that such rhetoric will give Ukraine spiritual help in the short term, and may even push it to take more proactive actions on the battlefield. However, for Russia, this "total victory" is obviously unacceptable-Moscow is bound to interpret it as a direct provocation, and the resulting countermeasures are likely to further push up the intensity of the conflict.
At the same time, although the Western camp appears to have reached a consensus on the position, it is inevitably difficult to truly unify its interior outside the battlefield.On the one hand, geopolitically closely related Eastern European countries generally welcome Trump's tough statements in the sense of serious security threats; but on the other hand, countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and other countries with energy dependence and economic concerns must remain cautious and strive to find a balance between pressure on Russia and internal solidarity.
This will be a difficult issue for both NATO and the European Union.
In addition, this shift has a strong domestic political significance in the United States. In recent months, domestic political turmoil in the United States, various emergencies followed, conflicts between the two parties became sharper and the country even faced a crisis of stagnation. While Trump chose this node to show a tough attitude, it is likely to pressure European allies to reduce the international burden of the United States in order to gain wider identity at home. In this context, his criticism of India's continued import of Russian energy has also released another significant signal: the United States may expand the degree of diplomatic and economic pressure, extend the tension of the Russian conflict to the world's major economies, affecting the subtle balance of international trade and diplomatic relations.
What can't be ignored is that after this turn, Putin's response has become another key variable-
If Trump’s statements are interpreted as naked challenges, then any form of future negotiations will be shaded.And it will decide whether to trust Putin’s claims “within about a month” with a timely meaningful “ultimate alerts” type of pressure, which is highly likely not only will not serve the purpose of resolving the crisis, but will also make the situation in Russia and Ukraine more difficult to predict in the unshakable future.
How do you think Trump's attitude toward Ukraine this time will re-shape the international geopolitical landscape? welcome to leave your insights in the comment zone and click on attention to track this ongoing geopolitical new storm with the "Today Read".
The author is Susa. Senior Independent Writer on International and Citizenship Issues
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Reconsideration of past
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● No. 21:Trump opens the Federal Reserve "big cleaning", and the calm of Wall Street is a fatal misjudgment?
● The 20th period:Textbook Survival Technique! How does Lee Jae-myung use the "Trump Rule" to get Trump?
● The 19th:Trump wants to grab 100 seats in Congress, California is furious, and the redrawing of constituencies makes * an offensive and defensive game?