Trump calls for new Ukraine leader after Russia diesel deal

President Donald Trump said on 10 October that it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, after Volodymyr Zelensky condemned a U.S. deal easing sanctions on Russian diesel exports. Trump told reporters outside the White House that Zelensky "wants to make problems for the world" and "he'd better damn well stop." The exchange followed Trump's 9 October announcement of the diesel agreement with Moscow.ukrinform.net+1

What Trump said about Zelensky

Trump suggested Ukraine should "get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does." He also said Zelensky "wants to make problems for the world" by continuing to authorise attacks on Russian refineries, telling him "he'd better damn well stop." Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev called Trump's intervention "iconic and historic" and said Ukraine "needs leadership actually focused on peace."bbc.co.uk

Zelensky rejected the deal. He wrote on X that "gifts to Putin will not bring peace" and that Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, killing twelve people including three children. He said 13 of Ukraine's regions came under attack, damaging residential buildings, infrastructure and railway facilities, and that Russia treats any easing of pressure as a licence to keep fighting.

The mechanism is straightforward: easing sanctions lets Russia sell diesel abroad, earning dollars that fund its war machine. Under the deal, Russia would release an initial 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the American and global marketplace, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November, then a further million, and then 3m tonnes within a short period of time — a delivery Trump noted would be based on the condition of their diesel refineries. The sanctions suspension runs until 7 April.

How the diesel deal works

The deal responds to surging fuel prices. The price of diesel has climbed nearly 70% since the start of the Iran war in February, which disrupted global oil supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The national average price for diesel was about $6.28 per gallon on 10 October, according to AAA — up from $5.94 last month and $3.68 last year. Diesel production in Russia dropped by an estimated 30%, according to the International Energy Agency.

Strikes on Zaporizhzhia killed at least 17 people including three children and injured at least 18, Ukraine's state emergency services said on 10 October. Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, said people continued to be searched for under the rubble of destroyed houses. Russian strikes killed over 80 Ukrainian civilians in two days, Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said on 10 October.

Where the strikes killed people

European officials lined up against the deal. Kallas said suspending sanctions on Russian diesel provides Moscow with more revenues to wage war, adding: "This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won't." Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called the agreement a "terrible disappointment" and said the agreed volume represents only a small fraction of U.S. consumption. A Downing Street spokesperson said UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham offered Zelensky his "complete solidarity."

Ukrainian officials met European and U.S. officials in Miami on 10 October in a diplomatic push to end the conflict. The Ukrainian team returned home earlier than planned because they managed to talk everything through earlier, a senior official said, and Ukraine will continue to bomb Russian oil refineries despite U.S.-Russia deals. The Ukrainian armed forces said they struck a major oil facility in Russia's Samara region overnight.politico.eu

Zelensky spoke on 10 October with leaders of France, Norway and Finland, and with several allies, calling for real decisions to protect lives in Ukraine and to protect European security. Burnham and Zelensky agreed Russia should acquiesce to an immediate energy ceasefire and end its attacks on shipping in the Black Sea, which would release more energy and food supplies into the global market.

European foreign ministers intend to approve the biggest set of sanctions listings targeting Russia's war machine since the start of the war on Monday, Kallas said. The sanctions package would be the largest since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. Whether the diesel shipments arrive in full remains unclear: Orpo said it is not clear the fuel can be delivered in full and that he did not think the deal would impact the United States or the global market.

The next dated event is Monday, when EU foreign ministers are set to approve the biggest set of sanctions listings on Russia since the start of the war, a package Kaja Kallas announced on 10 October. The diesel sanctions suspension itself runs until 7 April, and Russia's second shipment of 500,000 tonnes is due in November, both conditions that will test whether the deal holds.