President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for stoking his country’s conflict with Russia and said that he should be replaced.
“Zelensky could have settled this war many times — many, many times. And he chooses not to,” said Trump, adding that he was unhappy about Ukraine’s decision to strike Russian refineries. “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”
The comments came one day after Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that would supply Russian diesel fuel to the global marketplace. The agreement could ease prices somewhat but effectively aligns Washington with Moscow and against Ukraine and its bombing of Russian energy infrastructure.
Trump has grown focused on diesel prices ahead of next month’s midterms, where voters have cited the high cost of living as a top concern in polls.
The agreement with Russia was also panned widely by allies who have worked to sanction Russia, by Democrats, and by Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, who called it a “betrayal” of Ukraine, which continues to report casualties and disruptions since Russia’s invasion.
“President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian fuel amidst Putin’s ongoing and brutal attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine makes no sense and is a betrayal of the legacy and leadership of the late Senator Lindsey Graham,” Pence wrote on X.
Russia launched its war with Ukraine in 2022, and the United States and its European allies had been publicly aligned in supporting Ukraine against its neighbors’ aggression. But the alliance has been uneasy under Trump, who has often shown public frustration with Zelensky and relative warmth toward Putin.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, responded to Trump on social media Saturday, reiterating that Zelensky “leads our nation in a time of war — a war for independence, freedom, and dignity.”
“He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide,” he added. “Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his job well. He deserves support.”
Trump on Saturday cast his criticism of Zelensky as tied to U.S. domestic priorities.
“He wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers … because Russia supplies a large portion of the diesel fuel throughout the world,“ Trump said. ”And we told him, ‘Do whatever you want, but don’t hit the diesel fuel because there’s a big problem, big shortage.’ And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel.”
Kostiantyn Khudov in Kyiv contributed.
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