President Donald Trump called on Ukraine to elect a new president on Saturday, sharply escalating his public pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over efforts to end the war with Russia.
Speaking to reporters in Washington on Oct. 10, Trump said Ukraine needed a leader capable of reaching an agreement with Moscow. He accused Zelenskyy of passing up multiple opportunities to negotiate a settlement.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” Trump said, according to The Associated Press.
The comments came one day after Trump announced an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at increasing Russian diesel supplies to the United States and global markets. Trump defended the arrangement as a way to ease fuel costs and linked higher diesel prices to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy criticized the fuel agreement, arguing that additional energy revenue could help finance Russia’s war. The dispute has added strain to relations between Washington and Kyiv as U.S. envoys continue efforts to broker an end to the fighting.
Political Pressure, Not an Immediate Election Process
Trump’s statement does not by itself trigger an election or a change of government in Ukraine. The country’s electoral authorities have said presidential, parliamentary and local elections are not organized or held while martial law remains in force.
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine has cited the country’s martial-law legislation in explaining that national and local elections cannot be conducted during the emergency regime.
Article 108 of the Ukrainian Constitution states that the president continues exercising powers until a newly elected president assumes office.
That means Trump’s remarks amount to a political demand and a significant increase in U.S. pressure on Kyiv, rather than the start of an immediate constitutional process to replace Zelenskyy.
The statement follows talks in Miami between U.S. representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and a Ukrainian delegation. No agreement ending the war was announced after those discussions.
Source: Vesti Baku; The Associated Press; Central Election Commission of Ukraine; Constitution of Ukraine.