President Donald Trump said Saturday that Ukraine should "get a new leader who can make a deal," a day after announcing an agreement with Russia to suspend sanctions on Russian diesel exports until April 7. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "could have made many deals and for some reason, he never does." He also said Zelenskyy "wants to make problems for the world" by authorizing strikes on Russian refineries, adding, "He'd better damn well stop." Trump asserted, without presenting evidence, that Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly wants a settlement and that Zelenskyy is resisting a compromise.

Zelenskyy had criticized the diesel agreement as "terrible" and "not fair and not honest," calling it a "gift" to Putin that would give Moscow revenue to fund its war. The deal was announced while Ukrainian negotiators were in Miami for peace talks, and it appeared to catch Kyiv off guard. Hours later, Russian strikes on south-eastern Ukraine killed 20 people, including three children, with five glide bombs hitting residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia. Zelenskyy said Russia was "expressing its thanks" for the easing of sanctions, and large-scale power outages were reported in Kyiv. The Ukrainian delegation was heading home from Miami on Saturday.

Ukrainian and allied officials responded quickly. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Zelenskyy has the support of the Ukrainian people, who "have the right to decide," and that statements from abroad "only confirm that he is doing his job well." UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham expressed "complete solidarity" with Zelenskyy in a call, and the two agreed to meet in person in the coming days and to press for an immediate energy ceasefire and an end to attacks on Black Sea shipping. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said suspending sanctions gives Moscow more revenue for the war, adding, "This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won't," and said European foreign ministers intend to approve the largest sanctions package on Russia since the full-scale invasion.

Russian officials welcomed Trump's remarks. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy on economic cooperation, called the comments "iconic and historic" and said Ukraine "needs leadership actually focused on peace." A Kremlin aide described Friday's Trump-Putin call as "very substantive and friendly." Russian state media, citing a source, reported that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner may visit Moscow within the next two weeks.

The diesel deal comes amid constrained global fuel supplies, as the US-Israeli war against Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil products normally passes. Russia and Ukraine have also intensified strikes on each other's energy infrastructure, further straining markets, and fuel prices are a key issue ahead of November's US midterm elections. Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia's 2022 invasion, which suspends elections. The agreement disrupts four years of Western financial pressure on Moscow and leaves European and NATO allies working to adapt their sanctions strategy, while the planned Witkoff and Kushner trip and the upcoming Burnham-Zelenskyy meeting will indicate how the diplomatic split develops.