Trump says “the time has come for Ukraine to have a new president”

O president of the United States, Donald Trump, said this Saturday that “it is time for Ukraine to have a new president.” The statement appears one day after being criticized by the Ukrainian head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, for having reached an agreement with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the sale of diesel

“I suggest you find a new leader who can reach an agreement”, declared Trump after being questioned by journalists in the White House about the agreement he reached with Vladimir Putin on the supply of Russian diesel.

“ I think it’s time for Ukraine to have a new president.”he did.

Trump also accused Zelensky of “wanting to create problems in the world” by attacking Russian refineries, arguing that such attacks had an impact on the global supply of diesel.

“ We told them: “You can do what you want to do to Russia, but don’t attack refineries, because that’s a worldwide problem you are causing,” Trump said. “And [Volodymyr Zelensky] wants to create problems for the world.”.

“ We told them: “Do what you want, but do not attack the diesel supply, because this is a big problem, a huge shortage,” he added. “And what does he do? Go and attack the supply of diesel”.

And he warned: “It’s good that he stops once and for all.”.

Trump announced on Friday that he reached a “transcendental” agreement with Putin which allows Russia to “immediately” supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the US and global market, “another 500,000 tons during the month of November and 1,000,000 tons soon thereafter.”.

Depending on the state of Russian refineries, Trump explained in a veiled reference to Ukrainian attacks on Moscow’s energy infrastructure, Russia is expected to deliver “in a short period of time” three million tons of diesel.

As Russia is suffering sanctions on its hydrocarbon exports, the U.S. Treasury Department has immediately clarified that it has granted a provisional authorisation for this placing on the market.

In response, the Ukrainian President argued that the relief of sanctions on russian diesel is a sign of “weakness” and will contribute to Vladimir Putin “stopping the war longer”.

“Any relaxation of sanctions against Russia, without a clear and lasting settlement of clearance, is a clear weakness. This plays in favor of Russia — allowing it to kill more, to wage war for longer, to respect even less America and to cause even greater losses and damage to the world,” Zelensky published on social networks.

Peace never eats through weakness. Today, representatives of the U.S. Congress were in Kyiv – a bipartisan delegation – and I am grateful to them for visiting Ukraine at such a difficult time. They asked: what is needed to end the war? The answer must be strong. There must be sanctions under the Lindsey Graham bill, there must be support for Ukraine in protecting lives, and there must be pressure on Russia for its war. And today, there was a conversation between the leaders of America and Russia. A conversation that leads to something different. Recently, there was a European decision to lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs. Since then, Russian strikes and the torment of people have only increased. This past week allone, there was a brutal Russian missile strike on a residential building in Pryluky, aerial bombs were dropped on Kramatorsk – on ordinary city buses – and there have been constant attacks on Kyiv’s energy infrastructure and on the life-sustaining infrastructure in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, and our other cities. Dozens of people have been killed and Hundreds wondled. The Russians are compensating for their disability to achieve their goals on the battlefield with this kind of terror. This year, Russia is weaker on the battlefield than at any other point in the war. That's why Putin is relying on terror. That is why he is relying on attempts to strike backroom deals to secure some form of pressure relief for Russia, in order to buy more time and more opportunities for war. Any easy of sanctions against Russia without a clear and late de-scalement agreement with Russia is an obvious weakness. It plays into Russia’s hands – allowing it to kill more, war for long, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world. Ukraine is ready to take symbolic de-scale steps, and the American team knows our position. Our strikes on Russian oil refineries and other oil facilities are a responsibility to Russia’s years-long campaign of terror against Ukraine’s energy sector. Ukraine will not set Russian oil refineries on fire if Russia does not destroy our energy infrastructure. This is the kind of agreement we are proposing to America, and we believe the United States has enough power to achieve such a compromise. Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. Russia will “repay” the diesel with further terror and perfection. Allowing Russia to sell oil products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged. What is needed is real de-escalation with Russia on a reciprocal bass. We count on America’s fair support for our defense of life, for our defense of people in Ukraine – and on the United States having a correspondingly strong conversation with Russia. A strong one, not a weak one.

— Volodymyr Zelensky / Âолодимир October 9, 2026

In the middle of the night Ukraine attacked an oil terminal in Rostov region, in southern Russia.

The attack caused a fire at a terminal responsible for the storage and fuel pumping of the Novoshakhtinsk refinery, which had already been hit by Ukrainian drones on July 9, needed the Russian independent channel Astra.