Washington: Suggesting that the current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not done enough to end his country's war with Russia, US President Donald Trump said that it's time for Ukraine to get a new president.
Speaking at the White House on Saturday, Trump said, “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal," adding that "for some reason (Zelenskyy) never does".
Trump also suggested that if he had been US president in 2022, “that war would have never started. There was no reason that that war with Ukraine and Russia started. It started due to incompetence.”
Trump said that Zelenskyy has “lost 30 per cent of your country and you've had over a million people go between the two of them, over 2 million people killed. That's a war that should have never started. And I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy on Saturday expressed disappointment over the US' diesel deal with Russia and asserted that Moscow relies on prolonged warfare, civilian terror, and infrastructure destruction, adding that the relief signals "the attacks can continue."
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president voiced criticism of US President Donald Trump's recent annoucement that Russia would immediately supply over 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to American and global markets, pointing to the latest wave of strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities through Russian jet-powered "Shaheds."
Zelenskyy claimed that Russia, through the continued attacks and the new deal with the US, is counting on dragging out the war, inflicting terror upon civilians, and devastating essential infrastructure. He claimed that Moscow will use "every additional billion dollars" earned from petroleum product exports to develop and boost their arsenal and deploy additional mercenaries to the front lines.
What allowing Russia to sell oil products means was heard most clearly in Kyiv just now, when, after repeated attacks on energy facilities with jet-powered “shaheds,” Russia launched a ballistic missile attack as well. Some of the missiles were intercepted. This once again clearly demonstrates Russia’s true intentions. They count on prolonging the war, terrorizing ordinary people, and destroying infrastructure.Every additional billion dollars they can earn from exports will be spent on nothing but sourcing and importing critical components and equipment to manufacture weapons, upgrading “shaheds,” producing missiles, and recruiting even more mercenaries to fight at the front. Russia’s choice is war. And they will be ready to end it only when they feel that their ability to drag the war out is diminishing.Unfortunately, the signals Russia received yesterday were entirely different – signals suggesting that it could simply keep attacking. And this needs to be corrected. Strong signals are needed from the United States, Europe, and other partners – signals in support of Ukraine and to RESTRICT Russia’s ability to wage war and terrorize people. Thank you to everyone who stands with Ukraine!
He asserted that the ongoing conflict will cease only after Russia stops finding any potential in dragging it.
(With inputs from AP via PTI & ANI)