Donald Trump has 'no clue' how to deal with Putin, expert says

Following President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week, followed by his drastic U-turn on the war in Ukraine, experts are warning that the president has "no clue" on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During an appearance on DW News, a German public news organization, journalist Malte Lehming said that Trump's tactics in dealing with the Russian president have not worked to quell the ongoing war.

"Trump has no clue what to do with Vladimir Putin. He tries different ways. Intimidation didn't work. Hugging him in Alaska didn't work. Confusing him didn't work. Just put in, sits there and looks what he does, and he still sends his rockets and Ukrainian places, and is not impressed by what what Trump says," Lehming said.

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Trump said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader's repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.

"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social following the meeting with Zelensky. "With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started are very much an option."

The strengthened support from Trump, if it sticks, is a huge win for Zelenskyy, who has urged the American president to keep up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war. It was a departure from Trump's previous suggestions that Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory that Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

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That had disheartened Zelensky, Europeans and Ukrainians and called into question the U.S. commitment to U.N. principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. But now, Trump's view of the battlefield coincides more with Ukraine's, Zelensky said.

"Trump is a game changer by himself," Zelensky told reporters after their meeting.

Trump, going back to his 2024 campaign, insisted he would quickly end the war, but his peace efforts appear to have stalled following a diplomatic blitz last month, when he held a summit with Putin and a White House meeting with Zelensky and European allies.

Trump has acknowledged, including in his U.N. speech to world leaders, that he thought a resolution to this conflict would be "the easiest" because he has had a good relationship with Putin. Trump said he is open to imposing more sanctions on Russia and urged Europe to join in.