Donald Trump said on Saturday that it was time for new leadership in Ukraine, after president Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at the controversial new US-Russian deal on diesel.
The US president told reporters at the White House that Zelensky “wants to make problems for the world” by authorising attacks on Russian refineries.
“He better damn well stop,” Trump said, adding: "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal.”
Russia and Ukraine have ramped up attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure in recent months, raising the global price of diesel and affecting farmers in the US.
Ukraine had shown willing to engage in a so-called ‘energy ceasefire’ with Russia, but Moscow signalled no public commitment and reportedly sought sanctions relief in private.
Trump on Friday announced a deal to lift sanctions and Moscow to supply some 300,000 metric tons of diesel to the US and global markets. Zelensky told Axios the deal was “absolutely terrible” and looked like a birthday present for Putin.
Suspected drone attack disrupts third Yandex data centre in four days
Russian technology company Yandex has shut down a third data centre in four days after a suspected drone attack, with outages reported across its taxi-booking and other digital services, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Yandex Cloud reported power disruptions at its facility in Vladimir Oblast on Sunday, while Russian state news agency TASS reported that the data centre had been completely shut down.
The reported incident follows attacks on Yandex data centres in Ryazan Oblast on Thursday and Kaluga Oblast on Friday. Yandex confirmed damage at both facilities, with the first forced to suspend operations entirely and several modules disabled at the second.
Users across Russia and several other countries reported problems with Yandex Go, the company's taxi-booking app, as well as its services for drivers, couriers and smart-home devices.
Zelensky says Russia ‘thanked’ Trump for diesel sanctions relief with deadly attack
Russian glide bombs killed 20 people, including three children, and wounded 18 in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday.
Ukrainian officials said Russian forces dropped five guided aerial bombs on residential buildings, reducing part of an apartment block to rubble. A six-year-old girl was among those killed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack a day after Donald Trump announced a deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports.
“Today, Russia said thank you for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Zelensky said.
He warned that Moscow interpreted any easing of pressure as a signal it could continue attacking Ukrainian cities.
Trump says Ukraine needs a 'new president' as tensions with Zelensky escalate
US president Donald Trump has called for Ukraine to replace Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of undermining efforts to end the war by attacking Russian oil refineries.
“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday. “He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel because Russia supplies a large portion of the diesel fuel throughout the world.”
Trump accused Zelensky of driving up global diesel prices by targeting Russian oil refineries, which Ukraine has attacked to disrupt Moscow's fuel supplies and revenue for the war. “I said to him, ‘Do what you want. Don’t hit refineries. There's plenty of targets. Don't hit refineries.’ And he went out and he hit,” Trump said.
Zelensky condemned Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports, saying: “Today, Russia said thank you for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia.”
A Russian strike on the city killed 20 people, including three children, on Saturday.
Trump’s new diesel deal with Russia is ‘shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic’, experts say
Donald Trump’s new deal with Russia to boost diesel supply over the next few months is unlikely to make a dent in high prices, experts have said.
The US president said he had made an agreement with Vladimir Putin to increase fuel supplies to the US and global markets, saying the move would help bring down costs for businesses and consumers.
Senior policy experts have suggested the move from Trump is unlikely to have a significant impact on oil prices in the US or globally.
Watch: Man Cheats Death As Russian Drone Strikes Kyiv
Six year old girl among 20 people killed in Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia
Twenty people, including three children, were killed in a Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, a day after US president Donald Trump announced a deal to lift sanctions on Russian diesel in a major setback for Kyiv.
A 6-year-old girl was among those killed when one strike reduced part of an apartment block to rubble. Her grandfather, Anatoliy Chumniy, stood sobbing over her body, laid on the ground in a white bag, after rescuers pulled it from the wreckage.
"Her birthday would have been at the end of the month," he said through tears.
Eighteen others were wounded in the attack on the industrial city, with a pre-war population of over 700,000 and whose outskirts lie less than 30 km (20 miles) from the front line.
Zaporizhzhia has been a regular target of Russian bombardment with strikes intensifying in the past few months.
The crippling effect we’re all feeling from the deadlock in Ukraine’s war with Russia
Two of the world’s largest exporters of grain, locked in war for more than four years, have seen exports plunge even further over the last year. Prolonged conflict around the Black Sea threatens both economies - and those most in need, writes James C. Reynolds.
Burnham and Zelensky agree to meet as UK pledges to put more pressure on Russia
Andy Burnham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Saturday and discussed the importance of putting pressure on Russia, a Downing Street spokesperson said, adding they would meet in person in the next days.
"The Prime Minister made it clear that the UK would continue to strengthen its sanctions on Russia and to take further action to constrain the Russian war machine," a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The comments come after twenty people, including three children, were killed in a Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday.
In full: Trump tees off on Zelensky: ‘Time for Ukraine to get a new president’
President Donald Trump said Saturday that “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” railing at Volodymyr Zelensky, and claiming he has not done enough to end his country’s war that has raged since Russia invaded four years ago.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on his way to a rally in Tennessee, Trump said, “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,″ adding that ”for some reason (Zelensky) never does."
“Zelensky could have settled this war many times, many many times, and he chooses not to,” Trump railed, after being asked about his deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply diesel to the U.S. in a bid to lower fuel costs ahead of the midterm elections.
The story in full:
Russia eases ban on diesel exports following Putin-Trump deal
The Russian government said on Saturday it had partially lifted a ban on diesel exports with immediate effect, following an agreement between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump for Russia to supply the US and global markets.
"Production volumes are sufficient to meet both domestic demand in full and exports to the global market in the specified volumes,” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement.