60 days without a fight and there will be elections. Zelensky responds to Trump's insults

Please tell Putin: give us two months, 60 days of a complete ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections, Zelensky said on Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Trump suggests the need for change

The Ukrainian leader's words refer to the latest statements of his American counterpart, Donald Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could have ended the war many times, but he prefers not to, Trump told the media on Saturday, saying it was time for Ukraine to elect a new president.

On the same day, Vladimir Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, called Trump's words "historic." In entries published on the X platform, Dmitriev wrote that Trump joined those who believe that Ukraine needs "leadership focused on peace." He described the US president's reaction as "iconic and historic," adding that the fuel agreement "unmasked Zelensky."

Dmitriev also published the cover of the American weekly Times magazine from 2025 depicting the president of Ukraine with the words "The Endgame" written on it.

In turn, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha defended Zelensky.

"President Volodymyr Zelensky is the leader of our nation in a time of war - a war for independence, freedom and dignity. He has the support of the Ukrainian people, who have the right to decide about it," Sybiha wrote on Platform X. He added that statements coming from abroad questioning his position "only confirm that he is doing his job well" and "deserves support."

Possible background to the dispute

A day before his statement about the need to hold elections in Ukraine, President Donald Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with Vladimir Putin on the import of a total of 4.8 million tons of Russian diesel oil to the United States and other countries over the next few months. This also means the suspension of sanctions on Russian fuel until April 2027.

As Axios reported on Friday, Trump made a deal with the Russian leader because Ukraine did not listen to US requests to stop attacks on refineries.

Trump publicly called on Ukraine to stop the attacks. Zelensky declared his readiness to do so if Russia refrains from striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. According to Axios, however, Washington wanted to unilaterally stop the strikes and did not consider the Russian airstrikes to be comparable to the Ukrainian refinery shelling.

Zelensky said on Friday that the easing of sanctions is a gift to Putin that will not lead to peace, and that Russia will repay concessions with even greater terror.