Donald Trump says "it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president"

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country would hold elections if Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, committed to a two-month truce, after US President Donald Trump criticized him. Trump questioned Zelenskiy’s leadership and blamed him for disrupting diesel availability through attacks on refineries in Russia. Earlier, Trump announced an arrangement to acquire diesel from Russia, undoing years of pressure. Zelenskiy tied a sanctions rollback for Russian diesel to a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia that killed 20 people, among them three children. Trump repeatedly pushed for Ukrainian elections, although the country’s constitution forbids them during martial law; in February 2025 he characterized Zelenskiy as an authoritarian without elections. Zelenskiy made the truce length a precondition before, saying in December 2025 it was the least required to set up a vote on a peace proposal. Russia has not publicly responded to his offer.