President Donald Trump said Saturday it is “time for Ukraine to get a new president,” delivering his sharpest rebuke yet of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the two leaders sparred over a new U.S.-Russia diesel deal and Kyiv’s continued strikes on Russian refineries.
“You know what I suggest? I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason, he never does,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing for a rally in Tennessee.
“Don’t hit the refineries”
Trump said he had repeatedly asked Zelenskyy to halt Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, to no avail. “We said, ‘you can do whatever you want to Russia, don’t hit the refineries,’ because that’s a world problem,” Trump said. “And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel.”
“He better damn well stop,” the president added, accusing Zelenskyy of wanting “to make problems for the world” and driving up fuel costs for American farmers and truckers.
Trump also faulted Zelenskyy for failing to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. “Zelensky could have settled this war many times, many many times. And he chooses not to,” he said.
The diesel deal behind the row
The clash came a day after Trump announced what he called a “highly successful discussion” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, under which Russia would supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, another 500,000 tons in November, and further shipments after that — totaling nearly 5 million tons. The Treasury Department issued a temporary general license easing Russian diesel sanctions through April 2027.
Trump framed the deal as a bid to lower fuel prices ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, with U.S. diesel prices having hit a record $6.528 per gallon in late September, according to AAA.
Zelenskyy condemned the arrangement as “a weak decision,” saying on X that “peace never comes through weakness” and calling it “a happy birthday present for Putin.” Hours after the deal was announced, Russian glide bombs struck residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 20 people, including three children.
Fallout
Kyiv has claimed strikes on five Russian refineries this week alone, and a U.S. official told CNN the administration had repeatedly asked Ukraine to stop hitting diesel refineries. Analysts, however, questioned whether Russia can even deliver the promised fuel, noting Ukrainian strikes have damaged refineries producing about half of Russia’s diesel capacity.
European allies rallied behind Zelenskyy. The British government said it would maintain its “toughest sanctions regime ever” on Russia and would not follow the U.S. in buying Russian diesel. Some U.S. Republicans also criticized the deal as undercutting pressure on Moscow.
Related: Trump Announces Russian Diesel Supply Deal as U.S. Temporarily Eases Sanctions
Sources: CNN; USA Today; Fox News; The Associated Press; U.S. Treasury Department.
