Donald Trump today delivered an unprecedented “snub” to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stating that, in his opinion, it was time for Ukraine to have a new president. The U.S. president made no attempt to hide his displeasure over the fact that Kyiv continues to strike Russian refineries, driving up gasoline prices, despite repeated calls from the U.S. government to stop.
“I suggest they find a new leader who can strike a deal. He had many opportunities to make deals, but he didn’t make a single one. If I were president, this war would never have started. This war began because of incompetence. You’ve lost more than 30% of your country’s territory. More than two million people have been killed. It’s a war that should never have started. “If I were president—if the election hadn’t been rigged—I’d be president, and this war would never have started. But Zelenskyy could have ended it many times and chose not to,” Trump said, responding to a reporter’s question.
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Russian strike in Zaporizia leaves many dead
He continued: “We told him, ‘You can do whatever you want to Russia. But don’t hit the refineries, because that creates problems for the whole world.” And he wants to create problems for the world. He wants to cause problems for our farmers and our ranchers with diesel fuel, because Russia supplies a large portion of the world’s diesel.”
“And we told them: ‘Do whatever you want, but don’t target diesel production facilities, because there’s a major problem—a major shortage.’ And what does he do? He goes and strikes the diesel production facilities…” Trump remarked pointedly.
The U.S. president’s remarks follow a report by Axios, according to which Washington had asked Kyiv to unilaterally halt attacks on Russian refineries, believing that these attacks contributed to the rise in gas prices paid by American consumers.
Zelenskyy’s
Furious Reaction: “Gifts to Putin Will Not Bring Peace”
The agreement drew a reaction from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who argued that Russia’s ability to sell petroleum products to the United States would strengthen Moscow economically and hinder efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
In a post on the X platform, the Ukrainian president directly criticized Washington’s decision.
“Gifts to Putin will bring neither peace nor any benefit to the civilized world,” he said.
He then warned that boosting Russian revenue from the sale of energy products would have direct consequences for the course of the conflict.
“Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and malice. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged. What is needed is genuine de-escalation with Russia, on a mutual basis,” Zelenskyy said.
“A Weak Decision by Strong Partners”
The Ukrainian president returned to the topic while speaking to reporters, expressing concern that the agreement would provide Russia with additional revenue, which could be used to finance its military operations.
According to Zelenskyy, the decision is not limited to its economic and energy implications but risks undermining diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement that would lead to an end to the war.
In fact, he characterized the agreement between Washington and Moscow on diesel a “weak decision” by powerful partners, insisting that the international community should seek genuine de-escalation rather than moves that, in his view, strengthen the Russian side.
It should be noted that Zelenskyy had proposed to Trump, as well as to U.S. envoys Steve Whitecoff and Jared Kushner, a reciprocal agreement on energy infrastructure. Specifically, he had stated that Ukraine was prepared to halt attacks on Russian refineries, provided that Russia ceased its strikes against Ukrainian power plants.
This proposal was not accepted by Trump, as, according to the U.S. official, the U.S. president did not consider the two types of attacks to be equivalent and demanded that Kyiv halt its strikes without linking them to a corresponding commitment from Moscow.
Source: PROTO THEMA
