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

Zelenskyy has ‘support of the people’, says Ukraine’s foreign minister after Trump calls for ‘new leader’. What we know on day 1,691 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...
Sources and context
The GuardianSource headline and summary supplied via NewsData.io. First collected by NewsJaws on 2026-10-11. This is an automated news brief, not original NewsJaws reporting. Dates reflect the source publication. Feed delays may apply.