‘It’s Time for Ukraine to Get a New President,’ Trump Says

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Oct. 10 that Ukraine needs a new leader, one day after his administration announced a deal with Russia to supply diesel to the global market amid rising fuel prices.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has had the opportunity to settle the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine “many times” but has chosen not to.

“That’s a war that should have never started, and I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump said.

He has repeatedly urged both Ukraine and Russia over the past several weeks to stop carrying out military strikes on energy infrastructure.

On Sept. 4, Trump announced that the two countries had agreed to cease additional attacks on energy infrastructure, including oil refineries. However, Ukraine has since continued to target Russian oil and gas refineries, while Russia has continued to target Ukrainian gas stations and other energy infrastructure.

Trump echoed on Saturday his previous calls for Ukraine to stop targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure, noting that Russia supplies “a large portion” of the diesel fuel used throughout the world.

“We said you can do whatever you want to Russia. Don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem that’s caused,” Trump said. “And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel.”

In his comments to reporters on Saturday, Trump accused Zelenskyy of wanting to create problems for American farmers and ranchers, as well as for the rest of the world.

Trump also told reporters that if he had been president in 2022, the war would not have taken place. He added that there was “no reason” for the war to have started between Russia and Ukraine, suggesting it was due to “incompetence.”

The president said Ukraine has lost 30 percent of its country as a result of the war and that more than 2 million people have been killed between the two sides.

Trump’s remarks followed Zelenskyy’s criticism of the deal between the United States and Russia in a statement released by the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, describing it as a “weak decision by strong partners.”

On Oct. 9, Trump announced that Russia had agreed to immediately export more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the global market. An additional 500,000 tons of diesel will be shipped out in November, followed by an additional million tons in December, he said.

Another 3 million tons of diesel could be delivered following the initial exports depending on the condition of Russia’s refineries, Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the deal.

The president said the deal would result in decreased diesel prices, which have increased in recent months during the conflict between the United States and Iran and the continued war between Russia and Ukraine.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted Russia a temporary general license on Friday as part of the deal to supply diesel exports.

The deal was announced on the same day as a meeting between U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Ukrainian officials. A senior administration official told The Epoch Times that the negotiators would discuss “a new, unified proposal that is focused on all aspects of the conflict to try to end the war.”

“I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen. And that is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other,” Zelenskyy said following Trump’s announcement of the diesel deal with Russia.

In a separate statement, Zelenskyy said the money Russia gains through diesel exports will be used to manufacture more weapons, produce missiles, upgrade drones, and recruit mercenaries to fight in the war.

“Russia’s choice is war. And they will be ready to end it only when they feel that their ability to drag the war out is diminishing,” he wrote in a statement on X.

The Trump administration’s deal with Russia came less than a month after the president signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which included new sanctions on Russia. The bill was intended to prevent Russia from continuing to fund its war against Ukraine through oil and gas sales.

“Enough is enough. The President must end his war with Iran instead of funding Russia’s war machine. Putin only responds to strength, which means cracking down on Russia and the enablers of its war against Ukraine,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in a joint statement on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.