United States President Donald Trump has said Ukraine needs a new president, accusing President Volodymyr Zelensky of repeatedly failing to reach a deal to end the war with Russia.
Trump spoke to reporters at the White House on Saturday.
He said Zelensky could have ended the conflict, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, through negotiations but chose not to.
“Zelensky could have settled this war many times, and he chose not to. It’s very difficult,” Trump said, insisting the war would not have started if he had been president at the time.
The US president also criticised Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries, saying they threaten global energy supply and could raise fuel costs for American farmers and ranchers.
The comments came days after the US agreed to temporarily suspend sanctions on Russian diesel exports. Zelensky had warned that allowing millions of tonnes of Russian diesel into the US would give Moscow revenue to fund the war.
But Trump argued that targeting refineries creates problems beyond the battlefield because Russia supplies a large portion of diesel globally.
“We said you can do whatever you want to Russia; don’t hurt the refineries because that’s the world’s problem,” he said.
“And he wants to make problems for the world; he wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel because Russia supplies a large portion of the diesel fuel throughout the world. But what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel.”
He then called for a leadership change in Kyiv.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals, but for some reason he never does. I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump declared.