Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to President Donald Trump’s calls for new leadership in the war-torn country on Sunday, saying elections will be held if Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to a two-month ceasefire.
Speaking with ABC News’s This Week, Zelensky said the next leader of Ukraine will be decided by its people and acknowledged the difficulty in holding elections during the war with Russia.
“Please tell Putin: Give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections. Of course, we will be ready for any choice of our people, Ukrainian people,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky said the war poses a challenge to holding elections, as it bars Ukraine from implementing the proper security infrastructure needed for residents to vote for their leader.
“It goes absolutely not secured and it goes out of our law, out of our constitution,” he said. “But the main thing is to have security infrastructure for this to give the possibility of people to vote. Of course, it’s up to Ukrainians when to vote, how to do it, and to choose one or another person.”
Trump called for a new leader in Ukraine on Saturday due to what he described as Zelensky’s inability or reluctance to agree to a peace agreement. The president suggested Ukraine “get a new leader who can make a deal,” signaling a notable rift in Zelensky’s relationship with Washington, which has long provided crucial support for his war against Russia.
Zelensky also addressed Trump’s lashing out at Ukraine for targeting Russian oil refineries, which Trump said has led to high oil prices rather than the U.S. war with Iran, as well as Elon Musk blaming him for the length of the war. Zelensky framed the situation as though pressuring Ukraine was easier than holding Putin accountable.
“These people can’t find a key how to stop Putin,” Zelensky said. “Because it’s more difficult to stop Putin than to pressure others, because it’s more simple to speak about the prices and connect it with Ukraine when everybody in the world understands, because of the war in the Middle East, the prices are rising.”
“They’re increasing because of the war in the Middle East, of the blocking of [the Strait of] Hormuz,” he continued. “Because of these reasons, everybody understands. And if we want to speak with people fairly, if we want to be clear, if we want to speak with our nations openly, we have to stop. I mean, these people have to hear reality. Don’t play games with people.”
TRUMP SAYS UKRAINE NEEDS ‘A NEW LEADER WHO CAN MAKE A DEAL’
Ukraine has launched strikes on Russian oil refineries in recent history, claiming to have disabled 51% of Moscow’s refining capacity. The strikes were bad news for the U.S., as officials are counting on its new diesel agreement with Russia to help bring down fuel prices that have surged due to the two conflicts.
In light of the strikes, Trump accused Zelensky of hitting Russia’s oil refineries to create “problems for the world.”
