Trump says Ukraine needs new president after Zelenskyy condemns Russia fuel deal
President Donald Trump has suggested that Ukraine needs new leadership to negotiate an end to the war with Russia, criticizing President Zelenskyy's approach. This follows a dispute over a US-Russia diesel fuel deal, which Zelenskyy condemned as a gift to Putin.
Why it matters
The comments signal a potential shift in US foreign policy regarding the Ukraine-Russia conflict and highlight growing tensions between the current US administration and the Ukrainian government.
US President Donald Trump said it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, claiming his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not tried sufficiently to bring an end to Russia's invasion.“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for Tennessee on Saturday.The statement was welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin's top economic negotiator, who called Trump's remarks as "iconic and historic"."President Trump joins the many who believe that Ukraine needs leadership actually focused on peace, not Zelensky's warmongering," Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin's special envoy on economic cooperation, said in a post on X.Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, said Zelenskyy "has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide.""Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his…
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