War in Ukraine: Trump says Russia and Ukraine have reached 'energy ceasefire'

It is up to the Ukrainians to choose their leader, declared President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview broadcast this Sunday on the American channel ABC, in response to statements by Donald Trump who called for a change of president in Ukraine.

“With all respect to President Trump, it is up to our society, to our people, to choose this or that leader,” he declared, reiterating his call for a “60-day” ceasefire with Russia, which would, according to him, allow elections to be organized.

“Tell Putin (the Russian president) to give us two months, sixty days of total ceasefire, sixty days, and we will hold the elections,” Zelensky said. “Of course, we will be ready to accept any choice of our people,” he added.

Donald Trump then declared that Russia and Ukraine had just concluded “an energy ceasefire”.

The American president criticized kyiv's strikes on Russian refineries on Saturday and considered that Ukraine should "get a new president", harsh remarks made the day after the surprise announcement of an agreement between Washington and Moscow for the massive purchase of Russian diesel accompanied by a relaxation of American sanctions weighing on Russia.

Diesel fuel has increased by more than 65% in the United States since the start of the war in the Middle East, which is weighing on many economic sectors including agriculture and transport. Donald Trump, who is seeking by all means to lower prices in the United States before the mid-term elections, knows that the high price of fuel is a major cause of voter discontent.

In this regard, the Ukrainian president attributed the rise in energy prices to the war in the Middle East. “Everyone understands that,” he said. The Ukrainian president further stressed that his country had endured “a difficult week” citing a total of “196” Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure and “153 civilians” killed.

Despite Donald Trump's words, Volodymyr Zelensky said he continued to “count on the United States to help us” to end the war which will enter its fifth year next February. “We are counting on the commitment of the president (Trump) and his team to stop Putin (...) This is the main issue to end this war, and we are counting on American support,” he said, saying he hoped that “we will manage to preserve this unity between Europe and the United States.”