Trump says Zelensky is doing “pretty well” against Russia.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he had earlier described as lacking the “cards” to win, is performing well in the conflict with invading Russian forces.

“He’s doing pretty well. He’s holding his own, at least. A lot of people are dying on both sides, but I think he’s doing pretty well,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“You have to say he’s courageous, he has excellent equipment, and he has capable men and fighters.”

Analysts note that Ukraine is increasingly holding up on the battlefield, though its cities continue to be targeted by lethal Russian attacks in a conflict that has now endured longer than World War I.

Trump and Zelensky most recently met at the G7 summit in France, where leaders agreed to increase pressure on Russia to bring an end to the more than four-year war with Ukraine.

After the meeting, Zelensky posted on Twitter that he was “grateful to President Trump for his attention to Ukraine and his readiness to help bring peace closer.”

Trump emerged from the meeting expressing a renewed interest in reimposing sanctions on Russian oil.

Prior to the G7, Washington had imposed and then extended a sanctions waiver for Russian oil cargoes already at sea, which troubled European allies.