Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday vowed to continue striking Russian oil refineries, pushing back against recent comments from President Trump, who took aim at Zelenskyy's leadership. Trump suggested Zelenskyy should be replaced and blamed him for high diesel prices, the Ukrainian president said Russia alone was responsible for the war in Ukraine. "Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
"It is possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not want to do so," he said, adding that any de-escalation must be reciprocal and backed by real guarantees. The exchange came as Kyiv pressed its campaign against infrastructure deep inside Russia, with a drone attack on Sunday shutting down a data center run by Russian technology giant Yandex, the third strike on the company's facilities in four days. Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1/2 years since Moscow's full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha pushed back on Mr. Trump's comments, writing on X late Saturday that Zelenskyy was leading the country through a war for its independence. "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. Trump said Saturday it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting Zelenskyy has not done enough to end the war and blaming him for high diesel prices in the U.S. "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," Mr.
According to an announcement from Mr. Trump on Friday, the U.S. has made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy more than 300,000 tons of diesel from Russia right away, followed by 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons after that. Amid the deal, which attempts to address high fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections, Mr.
Trump has also urged Zelenskyy for weeks to stop strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy criticized the deal and said it would help fund Russia's war in Ukraine. Trump has sought to blame record U.S. diesel prices on Ukraine rather than the war in Iran, which has driven up world energy prices.
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