Trump Demands New Ukraine President, Says Zelensky Rejected Peace Deals

United States President Donald Trump has called on Ukraine to elect a new leader, accusing President Volodymyr Zelensky of rejecting opportunities to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

Trump made the remarks at the White House on Saturday, criticising Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries and demanding that Zelensky stop targeting the facilities.

“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters, arguing that the strikes threatened global diesel supplies and could increase fuel costs for American farmers and ranchers.

“He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel because Russia supplies a large portion of the diesel fuel throughout the world,” Trump said.

His comments came a day after he announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on diesel supplies, which drew criticism from Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president said the agreement, which involved a partial easing of restrictions on Russian diesel exports, had emboldened Moscow to continue its war against Ukraine.

“Today, Russia said thank you for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Zelensky said on Saturday.

He argued that easing pressure on Moscow would encourage further attacks rather than push Russia towards peace negotiations.

“Last night provided yet more confirmation that Russia perceives any easing of pressure as a signal that it can supposedly keep fighting, that it can supposedly keep dropping bombs on cities. Different signals are needed,” he said.

The remarks followed a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia that killed 20 people, including three children, according to the report.

The attack was the third mass-casualty incident in Ukraine that week. Russian strikes on Wednesday and Thursday had also killed dozens of civilians, including in Kramatorsk and Pryluky.

Trump maintained that Zelensky had missed several opportunities to negotiate an end to the conflict and said the war would not have started if he had been president when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals, but for some reason he never does,” Trump said.

He also disclosed that he had advised Zelensky against targeting Russian refineries because of their importance to international energy markets.

“I said to him, ‘Do what you want. Don’t hit refineries. There’s plenty of targets. Don’t hit refineries.’ And he went out and he hit,” Trump said. “He better damn well stop.”

The diesel agreement has also drawn criticism from some US lawmakers, including Republican Representative Don Bacon, who argued that Washington should impose further sanctions on Russia rather than ease existing restrictions.

Analysts cited in the report said the agreement was unlikely to bring sustained reductions in fuel prices, noting that the volumes involved remained below Russia’s usual exports when its refineries were not under attack.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke with Zelensky on Saturday and pledged to strengthen Britain’s sanctions against Russia, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

The latest attacks followed talks in Miami on Friday involving Ukrainian, European and US officials seeking to develop a common proposal for ending the war.

Zelensky said Trump’s announcement of the diesel agreement had caught Kyiv by surprise.

Russian President Putin, meanwhile, said after speaking with Trump on Friday that an immediate resumption of peace talks was unlikely, citing Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow.

Russian state news agency TASS also reported on Saturday that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could visit Moscow within the next two weeks.

Editorial note: The source contains a significant casualty discrepancy: its opening says the Zaporizhzhia attack killed 20 people, including three children, while an earlier linked report is described as saying seven people were killed. Verify the final death toll before publication. Also confirm the exact terms of the diesel agreement and the British prime minister’s name and title against current official sources.