Trump Fully Backs Ukraine Fighting Off Russian Invasion: ‘Let Them Get Their Land Back’

President Donald Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Trump spoke to reporters about his meeting with Macron and showered praise on the French leader, while highlighting his major reversal on war in Ukraine.

“He’s doing a really good job. He’s fighting hard. He’s fighting on a lot of fronts. He’s helping with regard to the Russia-Ukraine catastrophe. And his words of wisdom mean a lot. And we’ve been friends for a long time now, really, from the first term on. And I appreciate you being here. It’s really nice. Thank you. Thank you. Please,” Trump began, turning it over to Macron.

“Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I’m very happy to have the opportunity to exchange with President Trump and our teams. And indeed, we have a lot of things to do together, and especially fix the crazy wars we have. And I just saw the message you issued after your meeting with President Zelensky, and I think this is a very right one. I mean, if we back concretely… Ukraine, in this situation, given the Russian economy’s suffering, I mean there is this opportunity of a good future,” Macron said.

“I think so. I think so, they’re very enthusiastic in a lot of ways, and it’s been a terrible war. Should have ended, and Russia should have stopped it, but it’s been three and a half years, and they’ve gotten not so far. So we’ll see what happens,” Trump said, adding:

But the other side can fight too. And they’ve proven that. Maybe it’s a pipe. It could be that Russia is a paper tiger. I don’t know what they are, but three and a half years of fighting and killing everybody and killing 7,000 people a week. For nothing, for nothing.

So it’s a very sad situation. But most of you have seen the recent statement I put out a little while ago. And I’m glad you got it. But I feel that way. I really do feel that. Let them get their land back. So we’ll see how it all works out. And in the meantime, I hear France is doing well, and you’re doing well. And he’s been my friend.

And we’ve gotten along on just about every subject there is to get along with, other than on occasion. On occasion, wine. Wouldn’t you like to pay a couple of dollars to put the wine into America? But we’ve never… we’ve always treated you good, right?

The Trump administration had long signaled that Ukraine would need to give up some land that it had lost to Russia to end the war. In August, Trump said he believed a deal would require “land swapping” between the two parties.

Watch the clip above.