US President Donald Trump met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly. According to Zelenskyy, the meeting was "probably the most substantive" of all their previous encounters.

Despite nearly an hour-long speech by Trump at the General Assembly, in which he described Russia as "bad and weak" and Ukraine as "brave," the real headline of the day came from his post-meeting post on Truth Social. In it, Trump stated:

"I believe Ukraine, with the support of the EU, is capable of reclaiming and restoring its territory within its original borders <...> Putin and Russia are facing significant economic problems, and now is the time for Ukraine to act."

This statement sounds much more positive compared to Trump's previous comments.

"However, it is important to note what is missing from this post: there is no mention of security guarantees for Ukraine or increased economic pressure on Russia – issues that were raised by the Ukrainian president during his remarks to the press after the meeting," said Stephen Sestanovich, Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Are the positive shifts in Trump’s position illusory, and what were the key takeaways from his meeting with Zelenskyy? Here’s a brief summary.

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Volodymyr ZelenskyyDonald TrumpUN General AssemblyDonald TrumpUN General Assembly