US President Donald Trump has called for Ukraine to replace President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a day after Zelenskiy sharply criticised a US deal with Russia to lift sanctions on Russian diesel.
“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday, accusing Zelenskiy of hurting global diesel supplies with strikes on Russian refineries, Geo News reported, citing Reuters.
“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.
‘Don’t hit refineries’
Trump said he had warned Zelenskiy against attacking Russian energy facilities. “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.”
“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,” he added.
Zelenskiy: ‘Russia said thank you’
Zelenskiy had linked the lifting of US sanctions on Russian diesel to a Russian attack that killed 20 people, including three children, in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday.
“Today, Russia said thank you for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” he said. “Russia perceives any easing of pressure as a signal that it can supposedly keep fighting.”
A six-year-old girl was among the dead when a strike reduced part of an apartment block to rubble. Her grandfather, Anatoliy Chumniy, wept over her body after rescuers recovered it. “Her birthday would have been at the end of the month,” he said.
Mounting civilian toll
- Nearly 80 civilians were killed in Russian strikes on Wednesday and Thursday
- At least 30 died when a bomb hit the eastern garrison city of Kramatorsk
- 22 were killed by a missile in Pryluky, about 130km east of Kyiv
The diesel deal
Trump announced the deal with President Vladimir Putin on Friday, saying Russia would supply diesel to global markets to ease prices that have soared since the Iran war began in February. High fuel prices are a political risk for his Republicans before next month’s midterm elections. Russia said on Saturday it had partially lifted a ban on diesel exports.
The deal was announced while Ukrainian and European officials were meeting US negotiators in Miami to work on a common peace proposal, which Zelenskiy said caught Kyiv by surprise. The Ukrainian delegation was heading home on Saturday.
Republican Representative Don Bacon criticised the deal, and analysts said the volumes were too small to bring lasting relief.
Diplomacy stalls
Putin said after his call with Trump that an immediate resumption of peace talks was unlikely, citing Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow. Russian state news agency TASS reported that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could visit Moscow within two weeks.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke to Zelenskiy on Saturday and said Britain would tighten its sanctions on Russia, according to Downing Street.
Why it matters
Trump’s call for Ukraine to change its leader is one of his harshest attacks yet on Zelenskiy, and comes as the US eases pressure on Moscow to bring down fuel prices at home. Kyiv sees the deal as rewarding Russia at a time of mounting civilian deaths.
This article draws on reporting by Geo News and Reuters.
Comments
Comments are reviewed by our editors before they appear. Please keep them civil and on topic. See our terms.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your view.