President Donald Trump said on Friday that Ukraine should find a new leader who can make a deal, escalating a war of words with President Volodymyr Zelensky over a new American agreement to buy diesel fuel from Russia.
The remarks, made during an exchange with reporters, followed Zelensky’s sharp criticism of the diesel arrangement, under which the United States is to purchase hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel. Zelensky described the deal as an investment in prolonging the war rather than ending it.
According to reports, Trump said he had suggested that Ukraine get a new leader capable of reaching an agreement — a striking intervention in the politics of a wartime ally, and one of the most direct clashes between the two leaders in recent months.
The diesel deal itself, announced earlier this week, envisions an initial shipment of about 300,000 tons, rising to 500,000 tons in November. Analysts cited in reports questioned how the fuel would reach American markets and whether it would meaningfully affect prices at the pump.
The exchange comes as the war grinds toward another winter and as Washington debates the future of its support for Kyiv. Ukrainian officials, according to reports, said they would continue to press their case that Russian energy purchases reward Moscow’s aggression.
The announcement of the diesel purchase came in a social-media post on Friday afternoon, and diesel futures turned lower in response. According to market reports, the deal envisions Russia supplying increasing amounts of diesel to what Trump called the “American and Global Marketplace,” with shipments ramping up through November.
For Kyiv, the optics are difficult: a wartime ally striking an energy deal with Moscow even as Ukraine urges tighter economic pressure on Russia. Zelensky’s team, according to reports, argued that every dollar flowing to Russian energy coffers helps sustain an invasion that is about to grind through another winter.
The clash also highlights the transactional turn in American foreign policy, where energy prices at home are weighed directly against alliance commitments abroad. How the disagreement plays out in the coming weeks may shape both the war’s trajectory and the already strained dynamic between the two presidents.
