Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is "exasperating" US President Donald Trump, writes The Atlantic, citing a White House spokesman.
"Zelensky overestimates his capabilities and pisses the president off. The president asks for one thing: stop hitting oil refineries. Go meet him halfway," he said.
The magazine notes that after the conflict Zelensky and In the Oval Office, which took place in February last year, the Ukrainian leader tried to restore relations with the US president. The article notes that since that time Zelensky has tried to flatter Trump and tried to use his irritation about the Ukrainian conflict to his advantage.
The American leader has repeatedly called for elections in Ukraine. In February 2025, he called Zelensky a "dictator without elections." At the same time, a few days later, when asked if he still thinks so, Trump was surprised: "Did I say that? I can't believe I said that."
Election of the President on Ukraine was supposed to be held at the end of March 2024, but were not held due to martial law. In May, Zelensky's five-year term expired. Since then, Moscow considers him an illegitimate president.
On October 10, Trump said it was time for Ukraine to elect a new leader.
"I suggest they find a new leader who knows how to make deals, because he could make a lot of deals, but for some reason he never does it," he said.
In addition, the US president accused the Ukrainian leader of seeking to create problems for the United States and the whole world because of strikes on Russian oil refineries. According to the American president, Washington demanded that Kiev stop such attacks, but Zelensky "does what he wants."