Trump says Ukraine needs new president after diesel deal

President Donald Trump said Saturday that "it's time for Ukraine to get a new president." He made the remark a day after announcing a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring Russian diesel to market. The deal reverses years of U.S. pressure on Moscow, and Trump is pitching it as a way to bring down fuel prices before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.abc7+1

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House, Trump blamed Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war dragging on and for Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries. "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. He said he had warned Zelenskyy, "don't hit the diesel fuel," and added that the Ukrainian leader "had better damn well stop".denver7+2

Terms of the deal

Trump announced the agreement on social media Friday after a phone call with Putin. He said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, then 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons "immediately thereafter." Another 3 million tons would follow "within a short period of time," depending on the condition of Russia's refineries. "Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority," Trump wrote.bbc+2

The Treasury Department then issued a general license that suspends U.S. sanctions until April 2027 on Russian diesel already loaded onto tankers as of Friday. It is the first diesel waiver since the Ukraine war began to run longer than the standard 30 days. The White House did not say who would pay for the fuel or whether the November shipments would arrive before Election Day.opb+1

According to AAA, U.S. diesel averaged \$6.23 a gallon on Friday, after hitting a record \$6.52 on Sept. 22. Prices have climbed as the war in Iran disrupts energy markets. Last month Trump signed a bipartisan sanctions law aimed at Russia's energy revenues, and the new deal puts its enforcement in doubt.abc7

Kyiv blindsided

A U.S. official told Axios that Trump went ahead with the deal after Zelenskyy ignored half a dozen U.S. requests to stop attacking Russian refineries. Zelenskyy told Axios he had been blindsided and called the deal "not fair and not honest". A senior Ukrainian official told the AP that Kyiv's negotiators did not know about the deal. Those negotiators were meeting envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami when Trump announced it.axios+1

On Saturday, Russian strikes killed at least 20 people in the Zaporizhzhia region. "Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia," Zelenskyy wrote on X.abcnews

Allies object

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said suspending the sanctions "provides Moscow with more revenues to wage war," adding, "This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won't". Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said that during the 90-minute call Putin did not commit to resuming peace talks.axios+1