Ukraine war briefing: Trump and Zelenskyy’s public tussle over Russian fuel deal worsens

Ukraine’s foreign minister says Volodymyr Zelenskyy has the backing of the Ukrainian people and deserves support, after Donald Trump called for Zelenskyy to be replaced as president. “He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide,” Andriy Sybiga said on Saturday. “Statements from abroad only confirm that he is doing his job well. He deserves support.” Earlier, Trump said Ukraine needs “a new leader”, a day afterthe US president struck a deal ​allowing Russia to supply diesel to global markets, and as Moscow launched strikes on Ukrainian civilians, killing 20 people including three children.

Trump on Saturday also called ⁠on Zelenskyy ⁠to stop hitting ​Russian ‌oil ‌refineries, saying: “He better damn ‌well stop.” Trump made the comments to reporters at the White House. Zelenskyy on Friday had reacted furiously to Trump’s deal with Putin, calling it “terrible” and “not fair and not honest”.

Further ratcheting up the tension, Trump said Vladimir Putin would like to reach a deal on the war with Ukraine, and without evidence accused Zelenskyy of resisting a compromise. “Russia would like to make a deal … but for whatever reason, Zelenskyy does not want to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “President Putin would like to see a settlement, strongly,” Trump said of a phone conversation he had with the Russian leader on Friday.

The British prime minister, Andy Burnham, has moved to quickly back Zelenskyy, telling his Ukrainian counterpart they were in “complete solidarity”. In a call between the two leaders, Burnham told Zelenskyy he recognised that “the past 24 hours had been difficult for Ukraine and reiterated his complete solidarity”, according to a Downing Street readout. The leaders discussed “the importance of maintaining pressure on Russia”, with Burnham making it clear the UK “would continue to strengthen its sanctions on Russia and to take further action to constrain the Russian war machine”. They agreed to meet in person in the coming days, the readout added.

US ⁠negotiators Steve ⁠Witkoff ⁠and Jared Kushner, ​who have ⁠spearheaded efforts to ⁠broker ​a ‌Ukraine peace ‌agreement, ‌may visit Moscow within the next ‌two weeks, Russian state ​news ⁠reported ​on Saturday, ​citing ​a source.

A delegation of Ukrainian officials who visited Miami for talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine was on Saturday heading home, an aide to Zelenskyy said. “The groups are already on their way home,” Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to the president, told reporters.

Vladimir Putin’s top economic negotiator on Saturday welcomed Trump’s call to replace Zelenskyy, describing Trump’s remarks as “historic”. “President Trump joins the many who believe that Ukraine needs leadership actually focused on peace,” Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s special envoy on economic cooperation, said in a post on X.

Germany said Saturday it would continue to push for new EU sanctions against Russia despite Moscow’s agreement with Washington to release diesel to ease a fuel crunch. “The German government sticks to its measures sanctioning Russia and is working jointly with its European partners on new sanctions,” the government spokesperson, Stefan Kornelius, said in a statement. Germany’s “support for Ukraine in its struggle to defend itself remains unfailing,” he said. “Diplomatic efforts for a peaceful solution continue.”

Russia’s defence ⁠ministry said its drones ⁠had ⁠struck a ​data-processing centre in ⁠Kyiv earlier on Saturday and a ⁠cargo ​ship ‌carrying military ‌supplies to ‌the Ukrainian port of Odesa. In a statement, the ministry said ‌the Kyiv facility was ​used by Ukraine’s armed forces to ⁠collect, process and ​store intelligence. The ⁠ministry ⁠also said ​⁠its forces ⁠had ​captured ‌the ‌settlements of Lukashove ‌and Lobanivka in Ukraine’s ‌Kharkiv region, Russia’s Interfax ​news agency ⁠reported. Reuters could ​not ​independently ​verify ​the reports.