Zelenskyy Meeting Triggers Sudden Flip

Soldier holding a Ukrainian flag outdoors

President Trump has done a dramatic about-face on Ukraine — going from calling it “Biden’s war” to praising Kyiv’s fighters and backing new weapons deals that could change the course of the conflict.

Story Snapshot

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 8 and praised Ukraine’s recent battlefield gains.
Trump agreed to license production of Patriot air defense interceptors to Ukraine — a major policy shift experts call a “very big change.”
Trump suggested Ukraine’s deep drone strikes into Russia could push Vladimir Putin toward peace talks.
Military analysts warn that “tide turning” claims have been made before in this war and rarely signal a true breakthrough.

Trump’s Tone on Ukraine Has Shifted Sharply

Not long ago, Trump called the Ukraine war “Biden’s war” and suggested Zelenskyy shared blame for the conflict. That rhetoric has now changed. After meeting Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 8, Trump praised Ukraine’s performance on the battlefield and called Zelenskyy “a brave man” putting up “one hell of a fight.” The shift surprised many observers who had watched Trump lean toward Russia’s framing for months.

Trump also signaled that Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes deep inside Russian territory could be a tool to force Putin to the negotiating table. That’s a notable departure from earlier statements where Trump seemed to discourage escalation. The change in tone lines up with a broader Western push to frame the war as winnable for Kyiv — and with Trump’s desire to be seen as the dealmaker who ends it.

Patriot Missile Deal Is the Biggest Concrete Step

The most tangible outcome of the Ankara meeting was Trump’s agreement to license the production of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine. Zelenskyy had pushed hard for this. The Patriot system is one of the world’s best air defense tools, and letting Ukraine build its own gives Kyiv a long-term shield against Russian missile and drone attacks. Defense experts called it a “very big change” in U.S. policy — one that goes well beyond symbolic support.

This deal matters because Ukraine has been losing ground in the air defense fight. Russia has fired waves of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities and power plants. Having local production of Patriot interceptors could reduce Ukraine’s dependence on slow Western resupply chains. It also signals that the Trump administration is now willing to invest in Ukraine’s long-term defense capacity, not just short-term battlefield aid.

Analysts Urge Caution on “Tide Turning” Claims

Despite the optimism coming from Western capitals, some military analysts are pumping the brakes. Russia suffered a net loss of territory for the first time since 2023 last month, and its costly ground assaults have slowed. But analysts at Harvard’s Belfer Center and the Libertarian Institute both note that “tide turning” claims have been made before in this war — after the 2022 Kherson counteroffensive and the 2023 Kharkiv gains — and neither led to a decisive shift.

The core problem remains: Putin shows no real willingness to negotiate a deal that gives Ukraine back its land. Ukraine’s drone campaign has hurt Russia’s oil industry and military logistics, but it has not broken Russia’s ability to fight. One Ukrainian political analyst summed it up bluntly — calling the current “turning point” narrative a coordinated information campaign, not a reflection of battlefield reality. For American taxpayers and conservative voters skeptical of open-ended foreign commitments, that distinction matters a great deal. Trump’s new posture may be a genuine policy shift — or it may be positioning ahead of cease-fire talks. Either way, the war is far from over, and the U.S. role in it is still being defined.