Photo: The White House / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine should replace Volodymyr Zelensky with a leader willing to negotiate an end to the war with Russia. He made the remarks to reporters at the White House, a day after announcing an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia to supply diesel to American and global markets.
I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal… I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.
Donald Trump, US President
Anger over refinery strikes
Trump’s main complaint was Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, which he links to record diesel prices in the US ahead of the midterm elections. He said Washington had told Zelensky he could do what he wanted against Russia but should leave refineries alone because they were “a world problem”, and added that the Ukrainian leader “better damn well stop”.
He also repeated his claim that the war would never have started had he been president in 2022, and blamed its outbreak on “incompetence”. Global energy prices have also been pushed up this year by the US-led war in Iran.
Kyiv pushes back
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga, defended Zelensky in a post on X, saying the president has the support of Ukrainians and that “they have the right to decide”. He added that criticism from abroad only showed Zelensky was doing his job well.
Zelensky had already called the diesel deal “unworthy” of Ukraine’s partners and “a weak decision”. After Russian glide bombs hit apartment blocks in Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, killing at least 15 people according to Ukrainian authorities, he said Russia had “expressed its thanks” for the easing of sanctions on its diesel exports. He argued that every extra billion dollars Moscow earns helps pay for drones, missiles and recruits.
The diesel deal
Under the arrangement Trump described on Friday, Russia would immediately supply more than 3 lakh tonnes of diesel, followed by 5 lakh tonnes in November, 10 lakh tonnes after that and a further 30 lakh tonnes within a short period. The Kremlin said Russia had reaffirmed its readiness to supply oil and oil products to US and world markets.
The move is a sharp turn from Trump’s own policy: last month he signed a sweeping sanctions law aimed at Russia’s oil and gas revenues. European allies have said they remain committed to sanctions.
What comes next
The remarks come as Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner held talks with Ukrainian officials in Miami on Friday on a proposal to end the war. Zelensky said he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron about strengthening air defences, warning of a higher risk of Russian missile strikes in the coming days, and that Ukraine expects fresh ammunition for its F-16 fighter jets soon.
