Trump Announces Diesel Purchase Agreement with Russia, Publicly Calls for Ukraine to Change Leadership; Ukraine Hit by Three Major Civilian Casualty Attacks in Four Days

According to Al Jazeera, U.S. President Trump on Friday announced an agreement with Russian President Putin to purchase diesel from Russia. The following day, Trump publicly called at the White House for Ukraine to "get a new president," accusing Ukrainian President Zelensky of driving up global diesel prices through strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Al Jazeera noted that the shift marks a "stunning reversal" of Washington's years-long policy of pressuring Russia.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said: "It's time for Ukraine to get a new president." He attributed record U.S. diesel price hikes to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure rather than to the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran and its spillover effects on global energy markets. "He wants to cause us trouble with diesel for our farmers and our ranchers, because Russia supplies a lot of diesel to the whole world," Trump said.

Al Jazeera reported that the day after the diesel agreement was announced, Russian forces struck the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, dropping five glide bombs on a residential building and killing 20 civilians, including three children. Zelensky linked the strike directly to U.S. relaxation of sanctions on Russian diesel exports: "Today, Russia thanked us for lifting sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia." He also warned that "last night proved once again that Russia treats any easing of pressure as a signal that it can keep fighting, keep bombing cities. The opposite signal is needed."

This was the third Russian attack causing major civilian casualties within four days. Al Jazeera's review noted that in strikes over the previous two days, a bomb killed at least 30 civilians in the eastern garrison city of Kramatorsk, and a missile killed another 22 in the town of Pryluky, located roughly 130 kilometers east of Kyiv; nearly 80 civilians were killed across those two days. Combined with the 20 deaths in Saturday's Zaporizhzhia strike, nearly 100 Ukrainian civilians were killed within four working days.

The agreement has triggered backlash within the U.S. Congress. Republican Representative Don Bacon criticized the decision as contradicting the intent of the comprehensive sanctions legislation recently passed by Congress aimed at striking Russian oil and gas revenues. Quoting a report, Al Jazeera cited Bacon as saying "more of the sanctions Congress recently passed should be implemented, not relaxed." Ukraine's European allies also expressed shock at the Russian oil deal and reaffirmed their commitment to their own sanctions.

Zelensky warned that every additional $1 billion in export revenue Russia obtains can be put toward weapons components, drone upgrades, missile production, and mercenary recruitment, and that Russia "will only be ready to stop when its combat capability declines." He revealed that he was discussing strengthening Ukraine's air defenses with French President Macron and had coordinated with Finnish President Stubb on resupplying ammunition for F-16 fighters to intercept Russian Shahed drones.

The policy turnaround comes just weeks after Trump signed the comprehensive Russia sanctions bill passed last month. The bill is intended to strike Russian oil and gas revenues and cripple its ability to wage war against Ukraine from a vital economic artery. Al Jazeera noted that Trump's push for the diesel deal stands in "stark contrast" to the stated goals of the bill. Details of the deal, including scale, pricing, and implementation timeline, had not been made public as of the report.

Trump's remarks at the White House revealed his displeasure with Zelensky's pressure on negotiating leverage: "I said to him, 'Do what you want. Don't hit the refineries. There are plenty of other targets. Don't hit the refineries.' And then he goes out and he hits," Trump said. "He'd better goddamn stop." He added: "I would suggest that they find a leader who can make a deal, because he could have made a lot of deals but for some reason he never did."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha responded on X, writing: "He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and it is they who have the right to decide. Statements from abroad prove precisely that he is doing well. He deserves support."