Yerevan:   +18 °C
Today:   Monday, 12 October, 2026

Who Could Replace Zelensky: 4 Contenders as Trump Calls for Change

143
Today, 18:36
Who Could Replace Zelensky: 4 Contenders as Trump Calls for Change

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 November 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.