President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that it was time for Ukraine to choose a new president, criticizing Volodymyr Zelensky for failing to end the war that began when Russia invaded four years ago. Trump said, “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” adding that Zelensky never does.
He blamed the Ukrainian leader for not settling the conflict and linked the criticism to a deal Trump said he had reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply diesel to the United States. Trump argued that the deal was intended to lower fuel costs ahead of the midterm elections, while noting that the United States had recently signed sweeping sanctions on Russia aimed at pressuring Moscow for its war against Ukraine.
Zelensky responded on social media, saying the U.S. team was being used as a “smoke screen” and that the diesel deal was a weak decision. He added that gifts to Putin would not bring peace or benefit the civilized world.
The comments came amid reports of rising fuel costs in the United States and a sharp decline in Trump’s approval rating. Trump also reiterated a debunked claim that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged, saying, “If I were president, if the election weren’t rigged, I would have been president, and that war would have never started.”
