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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukraine will organize elections if Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to a 60-day total ceasefire, responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine to get a new leader. In an interview with ABC News, he also offered to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Moscow ends its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
“Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections,” Zelenskyy told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
He said he had shared the proposal with Trump’s team and that Ukraine would be ready for “any choice of our people.”
Hours after the interview aired, Trump announced on social media that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire.
A senior source in Ukraine’s presidential office told ABC News that Zelenskyy and his staff learned of the announcement from social media and have no information about any such agreement.
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump wrote. “Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!”
Trump said Saturday on the White House South Lawn that Ukraine should “get a new leader who can make a deal,” adding that Zelenskyy “could have made many deals” but “never does.”
He said, “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” and later told reporters Zelenskyy “should have an election.”
Zelenskyy said the decision is not Trump’s to make. “With all respect to President Trump, it’s up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader,” he said.
He noted that Putin has long wanted to change the president in Ukraine.
The remarks came less than 24 hours after Zelenskyy criticized a diesel deal Trump announced with Russia, and a day after Trump told reporters that Zelenskyy “chooses not to” end a war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Zelenskyy said he had repeatedly told Trump and his team that Ukraine wants peace and is prepared for a ceasefire and for de-escalation steps of any kind.
He said Kyiv’s strikes on refineries respond to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system.
If Russia wants Ukraine to stop hitting its diesel production, Zelenskyy said, Washington should signal Moscow to stop targeting Ukrainian energy sites.
“Don’t attack us. Don’t kill our children. We will stop attacking your diesel,” he said, calling it a “fair, fair deal.”
Trump has argued that the refinery strikes are worsening a global energy crisis by driving up diesel prices. “He can do whatever he wants,” Trump said. “But you can’t do that because we have a world problem.”
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The comments followed Trump’s announcement Friday of a deal with Russia to import diesel fuel. Under the terms he described, Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to U.S. and global markets, equal to about 2.25 million barrels.
The United States exports about 1.5 million barrels of diesel a day, according to Reuters. The United States also temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian fuel that were designed to cut Moscow’s revenues for the war, Reuters reported.
Zelenskyy called the arrangement an “obvious weakness” and said it would allow Russia to “kill more” and “wage war for longer.” Many lawmakers, including Republicans, have criticized the deal as rewarding Putin, Reuters reported.
Trump is under pressure to lower fuel prices before the November midterm elections, which will determine whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress for the final two years of his term.
Karl asked why Trump and Elon Musk, whose Starlink internet service is essential to Ukraine, are blaming Zelenskyy for the war’s continuation. Musk said Saturday on X that Zelenskyy has “gone too far.”
Zelenskyy said it is simpler to talk about prices than to find a way to stop Putin.
“Everybody understands” that prices are rising because of the war in the Middle East and the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, he said. The strait is a major shipping route for the world’s oil.
A senior Ukrainian source told ABC News that Kyiv expects the Trump administration to stop sharing U.S. intelligence that tracks Russian missile launches, in retaliation for Ukraine’s refusal to end its strikes on Russia’s oil industry.
A 2025 Oval Office meeting with reporters turned into a shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance rebuking Zelenskyy over his handling of the war. During that exchange, Trump falsely blamed Zelenskyy for starting the conflict.
Asked how long Ukraine can keep defending itself as the war nears its fifth year, Zelenskyy said it has to end.
He said he hopes Europe and the United States will keep their unity. “We will defend ourselves because otherwise, we will lose our life and homes, our freedom, independence,” he said. “And the truth is on our side.”
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