Trump charges against Zelensky: "The time has come for Ukraine to have a new president"

The American president has once again set a collision course against the president of the Ukrainians. Hours after lifting part of the sanctions on Russian fuel, Donald Trump this Saturday called for "a new leader in Ukraine" and attacked the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, demanding that he stop attacking Russian oil refineries. According to Trump, the United States told Zelensky that "he can do whatever he wants with Russia," but that he should not attack the oil refineries, as it is a "global problem."

Trump cornered Zelensky again in an attack reminiscent of the Oval Office brawl in February 2025, when he accused him of playing with World War III and told him that he had no cards to negotiate. This time he even asked Ukrainians to elect another president: "I suggest you look for a new leader who knows how to negotiate." The US president assured that he had warned Zelensky that he could "do whatever he wants with Russia", except attack its refineries. "And what does he do? He goes and attacks the diesel fuel facilities. He has to stop doing that," the president complained.

The US president stated that Zelensky has not wanted to reach agreements to end the war in Ukraine, a conflict that he considered "began due to incompetence." "It should never have started. They wouldn't have already lost 30% of their country," he said of the Ukrainian government. "I suggest they find a new leader who can make a deal, because he could have made a lot of deals and, for some reason, he never does," Trump said. The president concluded by saying that he believes that "the time has come for Ukraine to have a new president."

On Friday, Zelensky already criticized the agreement between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and described the pact as "unfair" and "unbecoming of an ally." The agreement will allow Russia to export millions of tons of diesel to US and international markets despite Washington's sanctions on the Russian energy sector that have weighed on Moscow since the start of the war in 2022.