(The Turkish Post) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday, Oct. 10, that Ukraine should replace President Volodymyr Zelensky with a leader willing to make a deal with Russia, a day after he eased sanctions on Russian diesel exports in an agreement with President Vladimir Putin.
Trump also called on Ukraine to hold an election, which Ukrainian law rules out while martial law is in force. On Sunday, Oct. 11, Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to stop its strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy system.
Trump says Zelensky missed chances for a deal
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump said Zelensky had passed up several opportunities to reach an agreement with Moscow and that Ukraine should choose a new leader who could make a deal.
Trump accused Zelensky of ignoring U.S. requests to stop drone strikes on Russian refineries, which he blames for higher diesel prices. “He better damn well stop,” Trump said.
Diesel deal eases sanctions on Moscow
The remarks followed Trump’s announcement on Friday, Oct. 9, that Russia would release large volumes of diesel to U.S. and global markets after a phone call with Putin. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a temporary license covering the trade until April 2027.
Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, with 500,000 tons more in November and further shipments later, about 4.8 million tons in all. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow was lifting restrictions on its diesel exports ahead of schedule.
Global diesel prices have risen since the U.S. war with Iran began in February, and fuel costs have become a political problem for Trump’s Republicans ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Zelensky said on Friday that “gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world,” and he warned on Saturday that the diesel deal would embolden Russian attacks. Germany said it would keep its own sanctions on Russia in place.
Zelensky offers a halt to refinery strikes
On Sunday, Zelensky said Ukraine had long been ready to halt refinery strikes as part of a mutual step, on condition that Russia stopped its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. He said any such arrangement would need real guarantees and that Putin did not want to stop the strikes.
Ukrainian drones struck a data center of the Russian technology company Yandex in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, overnight into Sunday. Yandex said the facility was damaged and its operations were halted. It was the third Ukrainian attack on a Yandex data center in a week.
Russian strikes kill at least 21 across Ukraine
Russian attacks killed at least 21 people across Ukraine on Saturday, including children, Ukrainian officials said. The deadliest strike hit apartment blocks in Zaporizhzhia, where the toll rose to at least 17 from the 15 first reported. Some later figures put it at 20.
Russian strikes on the power grid have caused blackouts in Kyiv and several regions this month.
Election question in wartime Ukraine
Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term. Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and Ukrainian law does not allow presidential or parliamentary elections while martial law is in force, so the vote due in 2024 was not held.
Trump has raised the issue of elections in Ukraine several times. Zelensky has said he is ready to hold a vote once security can be guaranteed and parliament passes the necessary legislation.
Russia occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. U.S., Ukrainian and European officials met in Miami on Friday to work on a proposal to end the war before winter.
Türkiye hosted three rounds of direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul in 2025. The meetings produced large prisoner exchanges but no ceasefire.
