Summary:
President Donald Trump said on 10 October 2026 that Ukraine should get a new president, a day after he announced a Russian diesel supply deal and the United States Treasury issued General License 135 easing sanctions on it. Speaking to reporters as he left the White House, he said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been told not to hit Russian refineries and had hit them anyway. Overnight on 9–10 October following the announcement of the oil deal, drones struck an oil-loading terminal at Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, and Rostov Governor Yuriy Slyusar confirmed the fire.
A US official with direct knowledge told Axios that Trump decided on the deal after Zelenskyy ignored half a dozen American requests to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. He had pressed Zelenskyy publicly on 13 September and by telephone on 20 September, the only two requests on the record.
The European Union, Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia each said on 10 October that they will not follow the US move. Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign-policy chief, said suspending sanctions on Russian diesel gives Moscow more revenue to wage war, and EU foreign ministers are expected to approve a new sanctions package on Monday 12 October. A Ukrainian government source said strikes on Russian refineries will continue unless an energy truce is agreed.
Detailed Report
1. Trump Says Zelenskyy Defied Requests to Spare Refineries, Calls For His Replacement
President Donald Trump called for a new president of Ukraine as he answered reporters' questions on departure from the White House on 10 October, one day after announcing the diesel deal and Treasury's General License 135.
His answer came after a reporter raised the suffering of Ukrainians.
Well, I agree with you. And you know what I suggest? I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals that for some reason he never does. And let me go a step further. If I were president, you wouldn't have ever had that war. That war would have never started. There was no reason that that war with Ukraine and Russia started. It started due to incompetence. Should have never started. You wouldn't have lost 30% of your country already. You've lost 30% of your country and you've had over a million people killed. Between the two of them, over two million people killed. That's a war that should have never started. And I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president.
He had addressed the refinery strikes at greater length earlier in the exchange, describing them as a problem for the whole world and for American farmers.
We said, "You can do whatever you want to Russia. Don't hit the refineries because that's a world problem that's caused." And he wants to make problems for the world. 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. And we told him, "Do whatever you want, but don't hit the diesel fuel because there's a big problem, big shortage." And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He can do whatever he wants, but you can't do that because we have a world problem. And the problem is caused by the lack of refineries for diesel fuel. So what does he do? He goes and hits refineries. And I said to him, do what you want. Don't hit refineries. Plenty of targets. Don't hit refineries. And he went out and he hit and he's not going to affect our farmers and he's not going to affect our ranchers and he's not going to affect the rest of the world. So he'd better damn well stop.
2. Axios Reports Trump Decided on the Deal After Ukraine Ignored Six Requests
A US official with direct knowledge told Axios that Trump decided to make the diesel deal after Zelenskyy ignored half a dozen requests to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. Barak Ravid, the outlet's reporter, carried the account on 10 October.
Axios reported that the decision followed eight hours of talks in Miami on Friday 9 October. Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser, told the Ukrainian delegation that Trump was expected to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and lift the diesel sanctions. They said he had made the decision after Ukraine ignored the requests.
Trump had raised the refineries in public a month earlier. At the Irish Open golf tournament in Doonbeg, Ireland, on 13 September, he told reporters, in remarks Reuters carried:
Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing: He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia… There are plenty of other targets. Don't hit diesel fuel. That's hurting the world.
He pressed the point again on a call with Zelenskyy on 20 September, and a person familiar with the call told Axios that "the word diesel came up many times." The half-dozen figure is the US official's own count, and the only requests on the record are the public rebuke of 13 September and the telephone call of 20 September.
3. Rostov Oil Terminal Burns Hours After the Diesel Deal
Ukrainska Pravda, a Ukrainian news outlet, reported that Ukrainian drones set fire to an oil-loading terminal at Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia on the night of 9–10 October, hours after the deal was announced, citing the Russian outlet Astra and monitoring channels. Astra and open-source channels placed the fire at the Yug Rusi terminal in the city's Zheleznodorozhny district, which handles products from the Novoshakhtinsk oil products plant.
Ukrainska Pravda said the terminal transships petroleum products for export, is involved in supplying fuel to the Russian military, and has a design capacity of about 2.5 million tonnes a year.
Rostov Governor Yuriy Slyusar confirmed the attack and the fire. He said more than 50 drones had been shot down since the previous evening, and that a railway bridge had been damaged, suspending train services. He said there were no casualties, though local reports recorded unconfirmed injuries.
A Ukrainian government source told RBC-Ukraine, a Ukrainian news agency, that strikes on Russian oil refineries would continue unless an energy truce is agreed.
4. Allies Hold Their Sanctions in Place as Washington Eases Its Own
Several governments responded on 10 October to the US diesel deal and the ongoing conflict, reaffirming their support for Ukraine and their sanctions on Russia.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, answered in a post on X, carried by Ukrinform, Ukraine's national news agency, and by Agence France-Presse, the French news agency:
Russian strikes killed over 80 Ukrainian civilians in two days. Moreover, it has stepped up its hybrid attacks against Europe, both EU Member States and NATO allies.
Suspending sanctions on Russian diesel provides Moscow with more revenues to wage war. This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won't.
Ukrinform reported that EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday 12 October to approve the biggest package of sanctions against Russia's war machine since the war began. Agence France-Presse put the package at some 1,600 new individuals and entities.
The European Commission, the EU's executive body, called separately for a ceasefire covering energy infrastructure on both sides, AFP reported:
We continue to believe that a ceasefire which would protect global food supplies and energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia is needed.
Europe knows too well the hidden costs linked to over reliance on Russian hydrocarbons, and Europe does not wish to fuel Russia's war against Ukraine.
Stefan Kornelius, the German government spokesperson, issued a statement carried by Reuters and by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the German press agency:
The federal government has taken note of the US decision relating to Russian diesel deliveries.
The federal government remains committed to the decisions on sanctions against Russia and is working with its European partners on further sanctions.
Support for Ukraine in its defensive struggle remains unbroken.
A spokeswoman for Economy Minister Katherina Reiche told Deutsche Presse-Agentur and the news programme tagesschau that Germany stands unconditionally by the sanctions packages. Germany no longer imports oil or petroleum products from Russia, she said, its supply is diversified, and it is independent of Russian oil.
A United Kingdom government spokesperson told The Independent, the British newspaper:
We will continue working closely with international partners to ensure Ukraine has the military and financial support it needs to defend itself.
We will also maintain pressure on Russia through the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed by the UK, increasing the cost of Putin's aggression and supporting efforts to secure a just and lasting peace.
Ukraine has repeatedly demonstrated it is serious about peace, but Russia has repeatedly rejected full and partial ceasefires while continuing attacks on Ukrainian civilians and energy.
Russia could end this war today. We remain committed to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes and to working with partners to bring about a durable peace.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen answered for Australia at a regular press conference on the country's fuel reserves on Saturday 10 October, quoted by The Guardian:
We don't need or want Russian fuel in Australia.
We have the arrangements in place as best as we possibly can with our trading partners to ensure that Russian fuel doesn't flow to Australia.
We do not want Vladimir Putin to benefit from this war in the Middle East. What the United States does is a matter for them. But we won't be changing our approach.
Conclusion
Trump told reporters on 10 October that Ukraine should get a new president and that Zelenskyy had been told not to hit Russian refineries but had done so anyway. A US official told Axios that Zelenskyy ignored half a dozen requests to stop. Following the announcement of the US–Russia oil deal, Ukrainska Pravda reported that Ukrainian drones set fire to the Rostov oil-loading terminal. A Ukrainian government source said strikes on Russian refineries will continue without an energy truce.
The European Union, Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia have each said they will not follow the US move. As of 11 October, EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday 12 October to approve a new sanctions package.