US President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2026, in New York City.Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine/AP
President Donald Trump keeps pointing the finger at everyone for surging fuel prices but himself. Over the weekend, he once again blamed Ukraine, asserting that the country’s retaliatory airstrikes on Russia’s oil refineries were causing prices to spike. Now Trump is urging Ukraine to scrap its leader.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does,” Trump said on Saturday, suggesting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not done enough to broker a peace deal with Russia.
For weeks, Trump has called on Zelenskyy to stop striking Russia’s energy infrastructure, claiming that the attacks are “hurting the world,” while saying virtually nothing about Russia’s strikes against Ukraine.
Responding to Trump’s escalatory remarks, Zelenskyy on Sunday criticized Trump’s framing, telling ABC News that it is near universally understood that the closing of the Strait of Hormuz has led to higher prices—not Ukraine’s strikes against Russia. But according to Zelenskyy, it’s easier for Trump to blame Ukraine instead of acknowledging the United States’ overwhelming role in surging prices around the world.
“People have to hear reality,” the Ukrainian president said. “Don’t play games with people.”
Later on Sunday, Trump claimed on Truth Social that there is now an “ENERGY CEASEFIRE” in the war between Russia and Ukraine. But he gave little detail about what that entailed.
The head-spinning war of words follows Trump’s deal on Friday to allow Russia to supply diesel to other countries, an apparent bid to bring down prices ahead of the midterm elections. But just last month, Trump had signed a bill granting him power to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on top countries that buy Russian oil or gas, namely China and India.
Even GOP lawmakers have voiced rare opposition to the deal. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) wrote on X that he was “concerned the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil will only fund the Kremlin’s war machine—emboldening more violence and destruction, as we have seen in recent days.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said that Trump should use his new sanctioning authority against Russia instead of allowing the country to “rake in revenues, and continue its catastrophic war in Ukraine.”
On Saturday, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) announced plans for a bipartisan bill that he said would prevent the president from lifting sanctions. “[Ukrainian] President Volodymyr Zelensky has the overwhelming support of the United States Congress, he has the overwhelming support of the American people, and he has the overwhelming support of the Ukrainian people,” Fitzpatrick wrote on social media.
