WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday called for Ukraine to replace President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, criticising Kyiv’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure a day after announcing a diesel supply deal with Moscow that drew a sharp rebuke from the Ukrainian leader.
Zelenskiy linked Washington’s easing of sanctions on Russian diesel exports to a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia that killed 20 people, including three children, on Saturday.
The surge in global diesel prices following the outbreak of the Iran war in February has emerged as a political challenge for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of next month’s midterm elections, when opposition Democrats could gain control of one or both chambers of Congress.
“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters at the White House, accusing Zelenskiy of disrupting global diesel supplies through strikes on Russian refineries.
“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.
Zelenskiy says diesel deal emboldens Russia
Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskiy said Trump’s announcement of a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin had emboldened Moscow. Kyiv has instead urged Washington to press Russia to engage in serious negotiations to end the war, which has been ongoing for four and a half years, according to the report.
The Russian government said on Saturday that it had partially lifted a ban on diesel exports.
“Today, Russia said thank you for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Zelenskiy said.
He added that Russia viewed any easing of pressure as a signal that it could continue fighting and attacking Ukrainian cities.
“Different signals are needed,” Zelenskiy said.
The southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has been repeatedly targeted by Russian bombardment, with attacks intensifying in recent months.
Among those killed on Saturday was a six-year-old girl, whose death followed a strike that reduced part of an apartment building to rubble. Her grandfather, Anatoliy Chumniy, wept beside her body after rescuers recovered it from the wreckage.
“Her birthday would have been at the end of the month,” he said.
The attack was the third mass-casualty strike in Ukraine that week. Nearly 80 civilians were reported killed in Russian attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, including at least 30 in a bombing in the eastern city of Kramatorsk and 22 in a missile strike on Pryluky, about 130 kilometres east of Kyiv.
Trump’s diesel deal also drew criticism from US lawmakers, including Republican Representative Don Bacon, who said Washington should impose additional sanctions recently passed by Congress rather than ease existing restrictions.
Analysts said the agreement was unlikely to deliver sustained reductions in fuel prices, noting that Russian export volumes remained significantly below normal levels because of attacks on the country’s refineries.
Britain vows to strengthen Russia sanctions
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke with Zelenskiy on Saturday and pledged to strengthen sanctions against Russia, according to a Downing Street spokesperson. The spokesperson said the two leaders would meet in person in the coming days.
The latest Russian strikes came after Ukrainian and European officials held talks with US negotiators in Miami on Friday to develop a joint proposal for ending the war, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Trump announced the diesel deal while the negotiations were under way, a move Zelenskiy said had taken Kyiv by surprise.
The Ukrainian delegation was returning home on Saturday, presidential aide Dmytro Lytvyn was quoted as saying by the Interfax Ukraine news agency.
Putin said after a telephone conversation with Trump on Friday that an immediate resumption of peace talks was unlikely, citing Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow.
Russian state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, citing a source, that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could visit Moscow within the next two weeks.
At the White House, Trump criticised Zelenskiy over the lack of a peace agreement and called on Ukraine to stop 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.
