Tensions escalate between Zelensky and Trump: Ukrainian leader calls US president 'weak' over deal with Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called President Donald Trump "weak" for his agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on diesel exports, while a growing number of voices within Trump's own political circle are criticizing the deal and opposing threats to cut off arms supplies and U.S. intelligence sharing with Kyiv. Zelensky questioned Trump's argument that easing restrictions on Russian diesel could help lower fuel prices in the United States and argued that the rising costs are primarily linked to the U.S. war against Iran and the disruption of energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Everybody understands that the prices of diesel, it doesn’t depend on our attacks on diesel in Russia. Everybody understands that it depends on the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz," Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News, in what clearly represents a new episode in the intense tensions between the two leaders that reached their peak last Saturday with some controversial remarks by Trump.

At the White House, while answering questions from reporters, Trump lashed out harshly at his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, this Saturday at the White House, following criticism he received after his decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel supplies, going so far as to suggest that Ukraine should change its leader. Responding to questions from reporters, Trump asserted that the Ukrainian president "could have settled this war many times," but "chose not to." Shortly after those comments, a reporter asked Trump if he didn't think the agreement reached with the Kremlin could leave Ukraine in a vulnerable position, to which the Republican leader replied: "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal."

The agreement with the Kremlin drew criticism from several figures close to the president, including Fox News anchors Mark Levin and Brian Kilmeade, who pointed to Putin's support for the Iranian regime and the fact that he has also been responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers in the war against Iran. Similarly, a bipartisan group of seven lawmakers from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee condemned the agreement on Sunday in a strongly worded statement that explicitly called on Trump to cancel it immediately. The statement is signed by three Democratic senators—Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal, and Ron Wyden—and four Republicans—Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, and John Curtis.