US President Donald Trump said on Saturday it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting that current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not done enough to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said, “I suggest they pick a new leader who can make a (peace) deal,” adding that “for whatever reason, (Zelenskyy) never does it.”
Trump claimed that Zelensky had “lost 30% of your country and over a million people were in between, over 2 million people were killed.” This is a war that should never have started. And I think it’s time for Ukraine to have a new president. »
Independent estimates put the percentage of Ukrainian territory under Russian control at 20%. British defense officials recently said that around half a million Russian troops were killed during the war and that there were no recent reliable estimates of the number of Ukrainians who died.
In his remarks, the US president also warned kyiv against targeting Russian oil refineries.
Trump said he told Zelensky to “do whatever he wants” against Russia but “not to hit the refineries.”
“He better stop,” Trump added.
Trump again helps Putin and reprimands Zelensky
Trump’s calls to replace Zelensky follow Friday’s attacks on the embattled ally, and Zelensky’s condemnation of a U.S. project that would fill the Russian state’s coffers and could allow Moscow to step up its attacks.
Trump has for several weeks tried to blame Ukraine for the rise in fuel prices caused by his war against Iran and has publicly castigated Zelensky for Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.
As American voters grow increasingly angry and November’s midterm elections — which will determine the balance of power for the final two years of his presidency — approach, Trump has repeatedly sought to pin responsibility for rising costs on Zelensky.
On Friday, Trump did it again, saying of the Ukrainian leader: “He wants to create problems in the world. He wants to create problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel. »
Trump’s statement comes just after he reached a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin — who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and has illegally occupied Crimea since 2014 — to lift U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel exports.
Russia welcomes Trump’s call for Zelensky’s departure, EU mulls response
Trump’s call for Zelensky’s replacement was well received in Moscow, with the Kremlin’s special economic envoy Kirill Dimitriev posting on X: “President Trump joins those who believe Ukraine needs leadership truly focused on peace, not Zelensky’s warmongering.”
Ukraine and its allies are still in shock after being taken by surprise by Friday’s announcement of the US-Russia diesel agreement.
Trump’s call for Zelensky’s removal came just hours after Russian attacks killed 20 people Saturday in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
Zelensky commented on
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
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