Trump says Ukraine 'needs a new president'. Sybiha: 'It is for the people to decide'

What Trump said

Speaking to reporters in Maryland on 10 October, US President Donald Trump said it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president”. “They need a new leader who can make a deal. Because he could have made a lot of deals and for some reason he doesn’t,” Trump said of Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to Trump, Zelensky “could have stopped this war many, many times, but chooses not to”. He linked his position to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries: “We said: you can do whatever you want to Russia, but don’t touch the refineries, because it’s a world problem.” In his words, Ukraine’s strikes are “creating diesel problems for our farmers”.

Context: the diesel deal and the interrupted talks

The remarks came a day after Trump announced an agreement with Vladimir Putin to lift sanctions on Russian diesel. Zelensky called the step “absolutely terrible” and said the Ukrainian delegation in the US had been used as a “screen”.

Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, according to Ukrainska Pravda, said that during the call with Trump the Russian dictator rejected peace talks and insisted Russia would keep fighting until it achieved “all its goals”. On the same day it emerged that talks between the US, Ukraine, European countries and NATO in Miami had ended early.

Sybiha’s response

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha replied on X that Zelensky leads the Ukrainian nation “in a time of war for independence, freedom and dignity”. “He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and it is the people who have the right to decide. Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his job well. He deserves support,” the minister wrote.

In another post Sybiha called the events of 9 October “counterproductive” and said Ukraine spent the following day in “active diplomacy”, with partners’ support remaining unwavering. “Now is not the time for weakness. Next week must become a week of European strength, resolve and increased pressure on Moscow,” he added.

Musk: “Zelensky went too far”

Overnight into 11 October, billionaire Elon Musk sided with Trump. Under a post by the Rapid Response 47 account showing Trump demanding that Ukraine stop hitting refineries, he wrote a single sentence: “Zelensky went too far,” Suspilne reports.

What next

As of the evening of 10 October, Zelensky himself had not commented on Trump’s statement. He has previously stressed that strikes on Russian refining are a response to Russia’s years-long campaign against Ukraine’s energy system and that Ukraine would stop them if Russia halted its attacks. According to the Ukrainian side, talks with partners are planned in the coming days, and Europe is preparing new sanctions decisions.