Trump: Ukraine Needs a New President

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday, 10 October, that Ukraine should choose a new head of state in place of Volodymyr Zelensky. In Trump's view, the new leader should be someone able to strike a deal, something he said Zelensky has failed to do despite having had many opportunities. The remarks come as Ukraine continues its war with Russia and Washington moves to influence the fuel market.

As quoted by Deutsche Welle, Trump said: "I suggest they get a new leader who could make a deal. I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new President."

Complaints over refinery strikes

Trump said the United States had told Zelensky he could do whatever he wanted with Russia, but should not hit oil refineries, because that was a global problem. The strikes had nonetheless continued. According to Trump, Zelensky wants to create problems for the world, including for American farmers, since Russia supplies a significant share of the world's diesel fuel. He demanded that the strikes stop.

The "diesel deal" with Russia

Trump criticised Zelensky the day after announcing an agreement with Russia on supplying Russian diesel to the US and other markets. To make the deal possible, the US Treasury issued a licence for transactions in Russian diesel, which had previously been banned under sanctions. The licence is valid until 7 April 2027. Russian authorities, for their part, announced an early lifting of restrictions on exports of this type of fuel.

The news portal Axios, citing sources, reported that Trump went for the diesel deal after Zelensky ignored several of his requests to halt strikes on Russian refineries. The Ukrainian leader reportedly offered to stop such attacks in exchange for Russia ending its strikes on Ukraine's energy sector, but Trump, it is claimed, did not regard those steps as equivalent.