US President Donald Trump’s administration is sending mixed signals over the course of the war in Ukraine, with a senior Pentagon adviser now declaring that “Russia is winning decisively,” directly contradicting the president’s public optimism.
Trump, in late September 2025, told reporters that Ukraine had the capacity to “win back all the territory” lost to Russia, an unusually confident statement for a leader who has previously called for both nations to negotiate “a fair peace.”
“With time, patience, and the right support from NATO and our allies, Ukraine can retake all of the territory and rebuild,” Trump said during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The remarks marked a clear shift from Trump’s earlier position, when he suggested Kyiv might have to cede some land to secure peace.
Pentagon Economic Adviser on Russia-Ukraine War
European leaders welcomed the statement cautiously, with Berlin urging Washington to translate the president’s words into “tangible strategic support” for Ukraine.
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Pentagon economic adviser Jim Rickards, who ridiculed the Western press for “living in denial” about the state of the war.
“They all say the same thing and they’re all wrong. They’re either lying or ignorant. Russia is winning the war decisively, everything else is a fairytale,” Rickards said in an interview posted on Rumble.
Rickards’s comment comes with intelligence assessments suggesting that Ukrainian counteroffensives have stalled amid manpower shortages, waning Western funding, and Russian advances in the east.
His statement also reflected the growing internal debate within Washington about the sustainability of long-term US support for Kyiv.
Trump on Ukraine Winning Russia War
Despite the contradiction, Trump has continued to frame himself as a mediator who can “end the war in 24 hours”
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In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said Ukraine could get back “the original borders from where this war started” with the support of Europe and Nato, due to pressures on Russia’s economy.
“Russia has spent millions and millions of dollars in bombs, missiles, ammunition and lives, their lives, and they’ve gained virtually no land.”
Trump explained that his position had changed “after getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia military and economic situation”.
“Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act,” he added, labelling Russia as a “paper tiger”.
The Kremlin spokesman responded by insisting “Russia is in no way a tiger”. “It’s more associated with a bear and there is no such thing as a paper bear,” he told Russia’s RBK Radio.
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