US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, saying he is “killing people for no reason” and insisting that Ukraine still has a chance to reclaim its territory.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump voiced disappointment over Russia’s war effort and condemned Moscow’s tactics.
“I’m very dissatisfied with what Russia is doing and what President Putin is doing,” Trump said. “I haven’t liked it at all. He’s killing people for no reason whatsoever.”
“They’re doing very poorly considering they have put it all on the line. Their economy is going to hell. They’re bombing the hell out of everything and picking up very little territory,” he added. “I think it’s very bad for the reputation of Russia.”
After meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said Kyiv “is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form” with European support.
His comments mark a sharp shift from his previous rhetoric. Previously Trump had suggested Ukraine might have to make territorial concessions to end the war, now in its fourth year. Kyiv and European officials welcomed what they saw as his tougher stance.
In an interview with Axios Zelensky said that Trump explicitly told him he backed Ukraine striking Russian energy sites and arms factories.
“If they attack our energy, President Trump supports that we can answer on energy,” Zelensky said, adding that Trump said the same about drone and missile sites.
Zelensky revealed he had also asked Trump for a specific weapons system that could force Putin to negotiate.
“President Trump knows, I [told] him yesterday what we need, one thing… We need it, but it doesn’t mean we will use it. Because if we have it, I think it [would put] additional pressure on Putin to sit and speak.”
He stressed Ukraine would not bomb civilians, but suggested Kremlin officials should prepare for an upsurge in strikes: “They have to know where the bomb shelters are. If they do not stop the war, they will need them.”
Trump’s pivot comes as NATO allies report increased Russian provocations. Last week, Estonia accused Moscow of sending three fighter jets into its airspace, days after NATO aircraft intercepted Russian drones over Poland.
Earlier, Trump said NATO countries should down Russian aircraft that violate their borders - a proposal welcomed by several European allies.
However, Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov warned on Sept. 25 that NATO’s actions could amount to “war” against Russia.
“Quite a few planes violate our airspace, whether accidentally or not. No one shoots them down,” Meshkov said.
Later, at a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov escalated Moscow’s rhetoric, claiming that NATO and the EU had already declared war on Russia through Ukraine.
“A clear example is the crisis in Ukraine, provoked by the collective West, through which NATO and the European Union want to declare, have already declared, a real war on my country and are directly participating in it,” Lavrov said, according to Russian state media outlet TASS.
The comments came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lavrov on Wednesday. Rubio reiterated Trump’s “call for the killing to stop and the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
Rubio’s remarks signaled Washington’s hardening stance on Moscow, following Trump’s sudden pivot in favor of Ukraine earlier this week.
The Kremlin has repeatedly pushed the narrative that NATO and Russia are already at war. On Sept. 15, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “NATO is at war with Russia. It’s evident, and it doesn’t need any additional confirmation,” in comments cited by TASS.