President Donald Trump's suggestion that Ukraine, with NATO and European Union backing, could reclaim all of its original territory from Russia marks a "significant change in tone," but his outlook may be too optimistic, Fred Fleitz, a former Trump National Security Council official and CIA analyst, told Newsmax on Wednesday.
"I've looked at this war for a long time," Fleitz said on Newsmax's "National Report." "The president has access to intelligence I don't have access to, and he's involved in a lot of strategy at this time. I actually don't see how Ukraine can do that."
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that he thinks "Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form with time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO. The original borders from where this war started."
Fleitz argued that the more likely scenario would be a stalemate, or an "armistice where we're going to freeze the current battle lines. I hope I'm wrong."
He added that he wants more information from the White House.
"Trump knows more than I do on what's going on here, but I'd like to hear what the details are that led the president to say that he thinks Ukraine can get back all of its territory. I don't see that happening in the immediate future," said Fleitz.
The discussion followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech to the United Nations General Assembly, where he pressed the international community to stand against Russia.
Zelenskyy also criticized China for being "silent and distant" and "doing nothing for peace," warning that smaller nations would lose faith in Beijing's global leadership if it tolerated violations of international law.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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