President Donald Trump today openly called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be replaced, accusing him of repeatedly rejecting opportunities to end the war with Russia and blaming Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities for contributing to soaring diesel prices in the United States.
The extraordinary remarks came one day after Trump announced an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to purchase millions of tons of Russian diesel, a move intended to ease pressure on American fuel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections but one that has drawn sharp criticism from Ukraine and its European allies.
“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 said.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Tennessee, where he was scheduled to campaign for Republican candidates, Trump again criticized Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure. The president has repeatedly urged Zelenskyy to halt those strikes, arguing that disruptions to fuel supplies are worsening the economic difficulties facing American consumers.
“He wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel,” Trump said, before departing for Tennessee where he was set to rally Republican voters.
Diesel prices have risen dramatically amid disruptions to global energy markets, particularly the difficulties associated with transporting oil from the Middle East during the ongoing war involving Iran. The conflict has pushed up the cost of petroleum products worldwide, while Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities have added further pressure to supplies.
The economic consequences have become an increasingly serious political issue for the White House. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey released October 1 found widespread dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict, with many Americans holding the president responsible for rising prices.
Trump also renewed his longstanding assertion that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would never have occurred had he occupied the White House when the war began in February 2022.
“That war would have never started,” he said. “There was no reason that war with Ukraine and Russia started. It started due to incompetence.”
The president went on to describe the enormous territorial and human losses suffered during the conflict, arguing that Zelenskyy’s leadership had failed to bring the fighting to an end.
Zelenskyy has “lost 30% of your country and you’ve had over a million people go between the two of them, over 2 million people killed. That’s a war that should have never started. And I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump said.
Independent assessments indicate that Russia currently controls approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory, rather than the 30% figure cited by Trump. British defense officials have estimated that roughly 500,000 Russian military personnel have been killed since the invasion, although reliable and comprehensive figures for Ukrainian fatalities remain unavailable.
Trump’s comments followed another deadly wave of Russian attacks against Ukraine, including bombardments in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region that Ukrainian authorities said killed at least 20 people Saturday.
According to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, Russian aircraft dropped bombs on residential buildings, killing civilians, including three children, and wounding at least 18 others.
The latest casualties came as Russian and Ukrainian forces continued exchanging long-range drone and missile attacks, with neither side achieving a decisive breakthrough along the front lines more than four and a half years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian bombardments had killed more than 60 people over the preceding four days.
Zelenskyy responded angrily to Washington’s decision to purchase Russian fuel, accusing Moscow of using the financial benefits of energy exports to sustain its military campaign.
“Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Saturday on X.
The Ukrainian president warned that every additional billion dollars earned by Russia through exports could be directed toward producing missiles, improving drones, purchasing military components, and recruiting additional fighters. He maintained that the Kremlin would have little incentive to negotiate seriously until its ability to finance and conduct military operations was substantially weakened.
Zelenskyy said his government was working with international partners to address the expected increase in Russian energy revenue. He also disclosed that he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron about strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses amid warnings of possible additional Russian missile attacks in the coming days.
Under the agreement announced Friday, Russia is expected to begin supplying the United States with more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, followed by another 500,000 tons in November and an additional one million tons shortly afterward.
Trump said Russia would subsequently provide another three million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote.
The announcement prompted angry reactions in Kyiv, where Ukrainians gathered at a memorial for fallen soldiers in Independence Square expressed frustration over Washington’s willingness to purchase fuel from the country attacking them.
“Trump has once again shown his true face,” said Oleksandr Petrenko, 26. “He didn’t care about the situation, the shelling or the destruction of our homes. All he’s interested in is oil or the fuel prices and how much Americans have to pay.”
Others said the agreement was consistent with what they had come to expect from Trump’s dealings with Putin.
For Oksana Yakunina, a financial adviser from the central city of Kropyvnytskyi, the announcement “didn’t really come as a surprise.”
“Trump has been working with Putin for a long time,” she told The Associated Press.
European governments also reacted with alarm, warning that renewed Russian energy exports could undermine Western efforts to restrict the Kremlin’s ability to finance its military operations.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed regret over the American agreement, warning that Russian energy sales directly support Moscow’s military expenditures.
He said Sweden opposed the arrangement, “as energy revenues are central to the Russian war chest,” and noted that the European Union was preparing to introduce its most extensive sanctions package to date on Monday. The measures are expected to include approximately 1,600 listings targeting individuals and entities associated with Russia’s military-industrial sector.
Germany likewise reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining economic pressure on Moscow, indicating that Berlin would continue coordinating additional sanctions with its European partners.
The German government “remains committed to the sanctions imposed on Russia and is working with its European partners on further sanctions,” spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said, adding that support for Ukraine “remains unwavering.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski raised doubts about whether Russia could fulfill the quantities promised under the agreement, citing reports of domestic fuel shortages and substantial damage to Russian refining infrastructure from Ukrainian attacks.
Referring to assessments that approximately half of Russia’s refining capacity had been affected, Sikorski questioned the availability of sufficient fuel for large-scale exports.
“So where will the surpluses for export come from?” he asked on X.
Trump’s latest agreement with Moscow represents a major departure from the sanctions policy he pursued only weeks earlier. Last month, the president signed legislation designed to tighten restrictions on Russia’s oil and gas revenues, which Western governments have long identified as a crucial source of financing for the invasion of Ukraine.
The new arrangement would ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports at a time when Washington is struggling to contain fuel prices. Energy analysts have questioned whether the agreement will produce substantial relief for American motorists, noting that global refinery shortages and disruptions caused by the Iran conflict remain major factors behind elevated prices.
The diplomatic dispute unfolded alongside another round of American-led negotiations intended to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian representatives in Miami on Friday to discuss a proposed peace agreement. The talks took place as the administration was simultaneously finalizing its diesel arrangement with Moscow.
A senior Ukrainian official said Kyiv’s delegation had received no advance notice of the fuel agreement before Trump publicly announced it.
The official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly, maintained that the diesel arrangement had no connection to the proposals being discussed during the Miami meetings.
The Ukrainian delegation subsequently departed Florida and began its return journey to Kyiv.
Additional reporting Saturday indicated that the Trump administration had warned Ukraine that continued strikes on Russian oil refineries could jeopardize American intelligence-sharing arrangements. Washington has repeatedly pressed Kyiv to stop targeting Russian energy infrastructure, while Ukrainian officials maintain that such attacks are necessary to weaken Moscow’s ability to finance its military campaign.
The latest confrontation has further strained relations between Washington and Kyiv, with Trump publicly demanding new Ukrainian leadership even as American representatives continue negotiating with Zelenskyy’s government over a possible settlement to the war.
{Matzav.com}
