President Donald Trump called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced Saturday, accusing the Ukrainian leader of repeatedly rejecting opportunities to end the war with Russia and defying a U.S. warning against striking Russian oil infrastructure. The criticism came following a Ukrainian strike on a major Russian oil hub hours after Trump reached a diesel agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, escalating tensions over Kyiv’s campaign against the infrastructure supporting Moscow’s energy industry. Republican lawmakers have warned that Trump’s diesel deal with Putin could bolster Russia’s war effort.
The strike also threatened to deepen the divide between Trump and Zelensky after the U.S. president said he had directly warned the Ukrainian leader not to attack Russian refineries. Trump’s demand for new leadership in Ukraine represents another sharp deterioration in his relationship with Zelensky and aligns with his longstanding claim that the Ukrainian president has obstructed efforts to end the war. The remarks came as Trump sought to reduce global diesel prices through an agreement with Putin.
Trump said Saturday that he had given Zelensky broad latitude to attack other Russian targets but explicitly warned him not to strike refineries because of the potential repercussions for global diesel supplies. Don’t hit these refineries because that’s a world problem,” Trump said. He goes and hits the diesel fuel,” Trump said.
Trump blamed Zelensky for failing to reach an agreement with Putin, saying the Ukrainian leader had passed up multiple opportunities to settle the conflict. It’s a war that should have never been started.” Trump also repeated his claim that Russia’s invasion would not have occurred had he been president when the war began, while blaming what he described as incompetence for the conflict. In February 2025, Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly clashed with Zelensky during an Oval Office meeting.
During that meeting, Trump accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and warned that he was “gambling with World War III.” The Ukrainian delegation left without signing a planned minerals agreement, and a joint news conference was canceled. Days later, Trump said Zelensky “doesn’t want to make a deal” and suggested that a leader who refused an agreement “won’t be around very long.” The relationship later appeared to improve. During an August 2025 meeting involving Zelensky and European leaders, Trump pushed for a three-way meeting with Zelensky and Putin.
Zelensky described that discussion as possibly his “best” with Trump. The two leaders met again at Mar-a-Lago in December 2025, when both said they had moved “a lot closer” to a resolution of the war. On Friday, Trump announced he had reached a diesel agreement with Putin intended to bring down fuel prices.
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