UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he believed Ukraine could retake all its land occupied by Russia and that Kyiv should act now with Moscow facing "big" economic problems, in a sudden and striking rhetorical shift in Ukraine's favor.
But there was no sign that Trump's words would be matched by a change in U.S. policy, such as a decision to impose the heavy new sanctions on Moscow sought by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he traveled to New York this week.
"Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act," Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly after meeting Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
"After seeing the Economic trouble (the war) is causing Russia, 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," he said.
That would ostensibly require Kyiv to expel Russian forces from 20% of its territory, including the Crimean peninsula Moscow has held since 2014, in what would be an extraordinary reversal.
Trump has previously suggested Kyiv should consider giving up territory in order to make peace, fueling Ukrainian fears of behind-the-scenes talks for a deal that would seek to recognise its occupied lands as legally Russian.
Europe's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, praised Trump's statements, saying: "These have been very strong statements that we haven't heard before in such formats, so it is really good that we are in the same understanding now."