Brief
Zelenskyy rejects Trump’s call for new Ukrainian president amid diesel deal controversy
Zelenskyy says Ukraine will halt strikes only if Russia stops attacks on Ukrainian energy, rejecting Trump’s suggestion he be replaced.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday vowed to keep striking Russian oil refineries and dismissed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he be replaced, according to CBS News.
What happened
Zelenskyy posted on X that Ukraine would be ready to stop hitting Russian oil refineries if Russia ceased attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. He added that any de‑escalation would require reciprocal guarantees, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not want to do so.” The statement came after Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine needed a new leader and blamed Zelenskyy for high diesel prices in the United States.
What the reports add
CBS reported that Trump announced a U.S. deal with Putin to purchase more than 300,000 tons of Russian diesel immediately, followed by 500,000 tons in November and a further million tons later. The deal is framed as a response to rising U.S. fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections. Zelenskyy called the arrangement “absolutely terrible,” saying it would fund Russia’s war effort. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also wrote on X that Zelenskyy has the support of the Ukrainian people and that foreign criticism only confirms the president is doing his job.
What was said
"Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure," Zelenskyy wrote on X, as reported by CBS.
"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 said, according to the CBS article.
"He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide. Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his job well," Sybiha wrote on X, CBS noted.
How it came about
The diesel purchase deal follows Trump’s earlier statements linking high U.S. diesel prices to Ukraine’s war, and it was announced on Friday. Zelenskyy’s continued drone strike on a Yandex data centre near Vladimir, Russia, marks the third such attack on the company in four days, underscoring Kyiv’s strategy of targeting Russian energy and technology assets while the ground war remains largely static.
Key facts
- Zelenskyy said Ukraine would stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia halted attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. (cbsnews.com)
- Trump announced a U.S. deal with Putin to buy over 300,000 tons of Russian diesel immediately, with further deliveries in November and later. (cbsnews.com)
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha defended Zelenskyy on X, saying foreign criticism confirms his performance. (cbsnews.com)
- A Ukrainian drone attack on a Yandex data centre near Vladimir caused outages across the company's services. (cbsnews.com)
Sources
- [1] cbsnews.com — originally reported as “Zelenskyy claps back after Trump calls for new Ukrainian president to replace him”
