Trump: NATO countries should shoot down Russian planes violating airspace

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met this afternoon for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that could mark a turning point in the war in Ukraine . The face-to-face meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes and was followed by a brief press conference, saw the American tycoon flatter the Ukrainian president, praising his "tenacious fight for survival" against the Russian invasion, now in its third and a half years.

"Ukraine is doing an incredible job," Trump began, with his trademark poise, sitting next to Zelensky in a side room at the UN headquarters. The Ukrainian president, visibly pleased, described the meeting as "the most important" since his return to the Trump White House in January. "It's too early for details, but it was an important moment," he said, hinting at a "change in perspective" from the US leader.

The Ukrainian leader told reporters, sitting next to Trump at the start of the meeting, that he had “good news” to share from the battlefield , where Kiev's forces have been engaged in fierce fighting with Russia for over three and a half years. “We need more pressure, more sanctions now against the United States, first of all, and against Europe,” he said in his opening remarks, adding that he wanted to discuss Trump's call for all remaining European powers to completely stop buying Russian energy.

Responding to a reporter who asked whether NATO countries should shoot down Russian planes if they enter their airspace, Trump agreed, although the US president later told reporters that American support for its allies in this case "would depend on the circumstances."

Trump then said he planned to call Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to urge him to stop buying Russian oil , likely to increase pressure on NATO allies to cut energy ties with Moscow. "He's a friend of mine. I haven't spoken to him, but I have a feeling that if I did, he might stop, and I think I will," Trump said, referring to Orbán.