By James Adamu
US President Donald Trump on Saturday called on Ukraine to replace Volodymyr Zelensky, arguing that the Ukrainian leader has squandered repeated chances to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Zelensky “could have settled this war many times” but chose not to, adding that the conflict would never have broken out had he been in office when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump said, suggesting Kyiv needs “a new leader who can make a deal.”
The president’s comments came just days after Washington struck an agreement with Moscow to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports — a move Zelensky had publicly warned would hand the Kremlin fresh revenue to fund its war effort.
Trump, however, directed his criticism at Kyiv rather than Moscow, blaming Zelensky for disrupting global energy markets through Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries.
“We said you can do whatever you want to Russia; don’t hurt the refineries because that’s the world’s problem,” Trump recounted telling the Ukrainian president. He warned that the attacks could tighten international diesel supplies and drive up fuel costs for American farmers and ranchers.
“He wants to make problems for the world; he wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers,” Trump said, noting that Russia supplies a large share of the diesel traded on world markets.
Trump’s call for new leadership in Kyiv marks a sharp break from the Biden administration’s consistent backing of Zelensky, and it lands amid signs of warming US-Russia relations.
The Ukrainian government has not yet responded publicly to Trump’s remarks.
Russia’s invasion, launched on February 24, 2022, followed years of mounting tensions dating back to Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The war has killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, devastated Ukrainian infrastructure, and left Russian forces in control of large swaths of Ukrainian territory. Kyiv continues to resist with Western military support, while repeated diplomatic efforts have failed to produce a lasting ceasefire.
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