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WASHINGTON — <\/span>Trump says ‘I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president’ as he blames Zelenskyy for diesel prices.<\/p>\n THIS IS AN APNewsAlert. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story is below.<\/p>\n Russian strikes killed at least 20 people in Ukraine\u2019s Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said Saturday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal<\/a> to buy Russian diesel that Kyiv warned would help bankroll Moscow\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Three children were among those killed when Russian aerial bombs hit residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Saturday. At least 18 people were wounded.<\/p>\n Missiles also struck Kyiv in a daytime attack Saturday. Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said four people were wounded.<\/p>\n Russia and Ukraine<\/a> are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1\/2 years since Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion. Ukraine is struggling to counter escalating Russian bombardments<\/a> that have killed more than 60 people over the past four days.<\/p>\n Trump said Friday he had struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal of years of U.S. pressure on Moscow<\/a> over its war with Ukraine<\/a> and an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,\u201d Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Saturday on X. <\/p>\n He said the attacks show Moscow understands \u201cany easing of pressure to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they can keep dropping bombs on cities.” <\/p>\n \u201cRussia\u2019s choice is war,\u201d Zelenskyy said in a later Telegram post, after drone attacks on energy facilities and a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. He said every additional billion dollars Russia earns from exports would help pay for weapons components, drone upgrades, missile production and the recruitment of mercenaries, and that Moscow would only be ready to stop when its ability to fight diminished.<\/p>\n Moscow received from diesel deal “signals that it is apparently permissible to continue attacking. And this needs to be corrected,\u201d he said, urging the U.S., Europe and other partners to limit Russia\u2019s capacity to wage war.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy said Ukraine was coordinating steps to counter the extra revenue Russia will receive, and that he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron about shoring up air defenses, warning of an increased risk of further missile strikes in the coming days.<\/p>\n He also said he had discussed the developments with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and that Ukraine would receive ammunition in the coming days for the F-16s it uses to intercept Shahed drones.<\/p>\n Trump had been set to discuss a suspected case of plague<\/a> in Russia with President Vladimir Putin in a phone call. <\/p>\n Instead, the American leader announced Friday that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons \u201cimmediately thereafter.\u201d Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons \u201cwithin a short period of time\u201d after that, he wrote. <\/p>\n In Kyiv, people gathered at a memorial to fallen soldiers on Independence Square greeted the deal with a mix of anger and resignation.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump has once again shown his true face,\u201d said Oleksandr Petrenko, 26. \u201cHe didn\u2019t care about the situation, the shelling or the destruction of our homes. All he\u2019s interested in is oil or the fuel prices and how much Americans have to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing Trump, he tries to manipulate the markets. He\u2019s got an election coming up soon,\u201d Petrenko said. \u201cSo he needs to emphasize to his voters that gasoline will be cheap. But it won\u2019t be effective.\u201d<\/p>\n For Oksana Yakunina, a financial adviser from the central city of Kropyvnytskyi, the announcement \u201cdidn\u2019t really come as a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump has been working with Putin for a long time,\u201d she told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n Ukraine’s European allies expressed dismay at the deal and said they stood by their commitment to sanctions.<\/p>\n Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Stockholm regretted the agreement, \u201cas energy revenues are central to the Russian war chest,\u201d and noted that the European Union would adopt its most comprehensive sanctions package yet on Monday, with 1,600 listings targeting Russia\u2019s military-industrial complex.<\/p>\n The German government \u201cremains committed to the sanctions imposed on Russia and is working with its European partners on further sanctions,\u201d spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said, adding that support for Ukraine \u201cremains unwavering.\u201d<\/p>\n Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski questioned whether Russia could deliver at all. Citing his embassy\u2019s reports of fuel shortages even in Moscow, and \u201cserious sources\u201d saying Ukraine has damaged about half of Russia\u2019s refining capacity, he asked on X: \u201cSo where will the surpluses for export come from?\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s announcement was in stark contrast to a sweeping Russia sanctions law<\/a> he signed last month that aimed at clamping down on the oil and gas revenues that fuel Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine. <\/p>\n Trump announced the deal as his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian officials in Miami on Friday to discuss a proposal to end the war. <\/p>\n \u201cI believe our team is simply being used as a smoke screen. And that is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other,\u201d Zelenskyy said Friday.<\/p>\n Speaking about Friday\u2019s announcement, a senior Ukrainian official told AP that the Ukrainian side was not aware of the deal before the announcement. <\/p>\n The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said Saturday the diesel deal announcement was not tied to anything under discussion between the U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams meeting in Florida. <\/p>\n He confirmed the Ukrainian delegation had left Florida and were on their way back to Ukraine.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Morton reported from London. Associated Press journalist Bela Szandelzsky in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n