The Kremlin has hit back at US President Donald Trump’s comments that Russia was a “paper tiger” and it could lose its war with Ukraine.

Following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said he thought Ukraine could claw back all the territory seized by Russia since it launched its invasion in February 2022.

The US president took to social media to talk up Ukraine’s resistance, praising its “great spirit” and saying its military was “only getting better.

Trump also took a swipe at Russia, describing the country as a “paper tiger” that had been “fighting aimlessly” in Ukraine.

He said a “real military power” would have pulled off victory in “less than a week”.

Following his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump also told media NATO countries should shoot down Russian warplanes entering their airspace, as happened recently in Estonia.

Trump’s remarks brought a sharp response from the Russian government.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told local media Russia was a “bear” rather than a paper tiger.

“Russia’s in no way a tiger,” Peskov told the RBC radio station.

“It’s more associated with a bear. And there is no such thing as a paper bear. Russia is a real bear.”

He insisted Russia would press on in its war against Ukraine because it has “no alternative”.

Peskov also suggested Trump’s surprise show of support for Ukraine was a sign of the US president’s unpredictability and was swayed by comments from Zelenskyy.

”Mr Trump heard about what’s happening from Zelenskyy’s perspective. And, apparently, at this point, that version is what led to the assessment we heard,” he said.

When he took office, Trump projected himself as an honest broker in the war, and last month held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska about ending the conflict.