United States President Donald Trump has called for the removal of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after blaming the Ukrainian leader for rising diesel prices, which have put pressure on the Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections. The criticism on Saturday came as tensions between the US and Ukraine have increased after Trump announced a diesel supply deal with Russia. Zelenskyy on Sunday pushed back, vowing to continue striking Russian oil refineries.
This is not the first time Trump has lambasted Zelenskyy. Their tense relationship goes back to Trump’s first term as president, when he pressured Zelenskyy to investigate his rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. Here’s a timeline of some of the occasions when Trump has been critical of Zelenskyy: October 2026: In his remarks at the White House, Trump criticised Zelenskyy over the lack of a peace deal while demanding an end to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities.
There’s plenty of targets. Don’t hit refineries.’ And he went out and he hit,” Trump said. Trump, who has been urging Zelenskyy to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure for weeks, struck a deal with Putin on Friday to buy diesel from Russia in an attempt to reduce high fuel prices.
The deal marked a stunning reversal of years of Washington’s pressure on Russia over its full scale invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said every additional $1bn Russia earns from exports would help pay for weapons components, drone upgrades, missile production and the recruitment of mercenaries. Moscow would only be ready to stop when its ability to fight diminished, he added.
April 2025: On April 15 , Trump criticised Zelenskyy and implied Kyiv had started the war against Russia, saying the Ukrainian leader was “always looking to purchase” US missiles. Then on April 23 , he criticised Zelenskyy for making “very harmful” statements after the Ukrainian president pushed back against the idea of ceding occupied Crimea to Russia in a potential peace deal. Zelenskyy had ruled out ceding any territory, declaring, “There is nothing to talk about – it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people”.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump accused Zelenskyy of stoking tension by “boasting” that Kyiv would not legally recognise ceding Crimea to Russia. Feb 28, 2025: During their fiery Oval Office meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance clashed with Zelenskyy over rare earth mineral agreements, security assurances and peace negotiations with Russia. Trump warned Zelenskyy, “You’re either going to make a deal [on ending the war with Russia] or we’re out,” and accused the Ukrainian leader of having “disrespected” the United States and “overplayed his hand”.
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