Trump Says Ukraine Should Find a New Leader as Diesel Deal Strains Ties

President Trump said Saturday that it was time for Ukraine to replace President Volodymyr Zelensky, widening a rift that opened a day earlier when Washington eased sanctions to let Russian diesel flow onto world markets. “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for Tennessee, according to CBS News.

Trump argued that Zelensky had not done enough to end the war, and he blamed Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian oil refineries for driving up diesel prices before the midterm elections. He said Zelensky had ignored his demands to stop those strikes, Agence France-Presse reported, and he repeated his view that Russia’s 2022 invasion would not have happened on his watch.

The remarks followed Friday’s announcement, made after a phone call with President Vladimir Putin, that Russia would supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons after that. The Treasury Department issued a temporary license allowing Russian diesel to be sold despite sanctions. The step runs against a sweeping Russia sanctions law Trump signed about a month ago, which targets the oil and gas revenue that funds Moscow’s war.

Kyiv pushed back quickly. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media that Zelensky has the backing of the Ukrainian people and that they “have the right to decide” who leads them. Zelensky had called the diesel decision a weak one by strong partners and said it would help finance Russia’s war. On Saturday he wrote that Russia had answered the sanctions relief with more attacks and that “different signals are needed.” Ukraine’s government said it would keep striking Russian oil facilities.

European officials also signaled distance. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Europe would not ease pressure on Moscow, and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham expressed solidarity with Zelensky, AFP reported. In Washington, former Vice President Mike Pence urged Trump to rescind the diesel deal, according to CBS News.

The White House case is that fuel costs are squeezing farmers, ranchers and truckers, and that Ukraine’s refinery strikes tighten world supply at a moment when energy markets are already strained; supporters argue that pressing both Moscow and Kyiv could speed a settlement. Critics point out that diesel prices began their steep climb after the war with Iran started in February, well before the latest round of refinery attacks.

Trump also renewed his call for Ukraine to hold an election. Ukraine has not held a presidential vote since the full-scale invasion, and its law bars elections while martial law is in force.

The dispute came as American, Ukrainian and European officials met in Miami for peace talks that, according to Al Jazeera, covered energy resilience, grain exports and security guarantees. Envoy Steve Witkoff described those talks as constructive.