President Donald Trump has called for Ukraine to elect a new leader, raising fresh questions over current President Volodymyr Zelensky's political future and when Kyiv will hold its next vote. "I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president," Trump said on Saturday, echoing his previous pushes for Kyiv to carry out elections that the country's constitution forbids during wartime. Trump's remarks came after Zelensky criticized a new deal that would give the U.S. access to millions of tons of Russian diesel after the U.S. war with Iran—and Tehran's blocking of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway—caused fuel prices to soar and pressured swathes of the U.S. population just ahead of the midterm elections.
Zelensky called the agreement "absolutely terrible" and a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Persistent Ukrainian drone strikes have targeted Russian oil and gas sites in an effort to cut off the Kremlin from vital oil revenue used to support its war against Ukraine. Moscow has carried out its own attacks on Ukraine's power plants, cutting off electricity flows and heating, including in the Ukrainian capital.
Trump then announced an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, saying both sides had agreed to "immediately" halt assaults on energy facilities. Russia has not commented, and Ukraine—expressing some surprise at the declaration—said it would abide by the deal, as long as Moscow complied. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Russia "violated the energy ceasefire immediately after it was announced." Meanwhile, Zelensky said on Sunday Ukrainian authorities would organize elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day "total ceasefire." Ukrainian law bans elections while the country is under martial law, which has been in place since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials also say it would be very difficult to hold safe elections while under Russian attack. Zelensky's elected time in office was due to end in May 2024. Russia has painted Zelensky as illegitimate, while Trump has accused the Ukrainian leader of "using war" to avoid elections.
Zelensky had remained popular, but polling from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published earlier this month, indicated a majority of Ukrainians now believe the current leader should not run for a second term in office—an increase from 46 percent in late 2025. Zelensky has not confirmed whether he would stand for reelection. The same survey found that 71 percent were opposed to holding elections now.
Zelensky's leadership has been tainted by corruption scandals touching his inner circle, and his firing of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov sparked days of protests. But who could be in the running to become Ukraine's seventh president? Zaluzhnyi, the former Ukrainian military commander-in-chief who is the current Ukrainian ambassador to the U.K., is widely considered Zelensky's top rival.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
