Kyiv pushes back on Trump’s call for a new Ukrainian president
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Ukraine needs a new leader to end the war. Zelenskyy offered to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stops targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, while Kyiv continues its drone campaign against Russian facilities.
Why it matters
The exchange underscores the complex diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine regarding war strategy and potential negotiations with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that only Russia was responsible for the war in his country. He said Ukraine would halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped hitting Ukraine's energy grid, after U.S. President Donald Trump blamed him for high diesel prices and said it was time for Ukraine to get a new leader.
The exchange came as Kyiv pressed its campaign against infrastructure deep inside Russia, with a drone attack on Sunday shutting down a data center run by Russian technology giant Yandex, the third strike on the company's facilities in four days. Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1/2 years since Moscow's full-scale invasion.
"Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
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