A near-identical situation to last year is unfolding once again regarding Ukraine and Donald Trump‘s demand that Volodymyr Zelensky step down from the presidency. Last year too, the U.S. President had expressed his desire to see Zelensky go, while Russian officials were calling him a warmongering president — as reflected in a Saturday evening post on October 10 by Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev — while Zelensky was calling for a ceasefire to allow elections to take place. The pattern is repeating itself this time around, as the Ukrainian president, who continues to seek support primarily from European partners — having essentially given up on expecting help from the U.S. — has now called for a ceasefire to allow Ukrainians to go to the polls.
Read more: Russia and Ukraine reach ceasefire agreement on energy infrastructure — Trump’s message: “Don’t violate it”
Zelensky: The people choose
Volodymyr Zelensky, much like Trump and Russian officials, did not shy away from addressing this particular narrative. In a television interview with ABC News, he stressed that the Ukrainian people choose their own leader and called for a 60-day ceasefire in order to organize elections. In theory, the failure to secure such a ceasefire towards the end of 2025 was one of the reasons Ukrainians never went to the polls — at a time, moreover, when his government was weighed down by a serious electricity abuse scandal, while Russian strikes were targeting, and continue to target, energy infrastructure in an effort to make the Ukrainian winter even harsher.
Specifically, Zelensky stated: “First of all, with all due respect to President Trump, it is up to our society, our people, to choose one leader or another.” He further said that if the U.S. government truly wants elections to be held in Ukraine, then “please, tell Putin to give us two months — 60 days of a full ceasefire, 60 days — and we will organize elections.” “We want peace, we are ready for a ceasefire, we are ready to participate in de-escalation in every way possible,” he continued.
“Stop killing our children and we’ll stop hitting your refineries”
Earlier, Zelensky had posted on platform X, stressing that Russia is “the sole culprit for this war” and noting that in the week just ending alone, “Russians launched approximately 1,450 aerial bombs, 75 missiles of various types, and over 1,640 strike drones, of which approximately 60% are jet-powered.” He highlighted that of the 23 people killed in Zaporizhzhia, four were children. Responding to Trump’s call for Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries, he made clear: “We will not hit Russian refineries if Russia does not strike our energy facilities.” He had already remarked that “Putin doesn’t want that.” He also spoke about an attack on a five-story building in Sloviansk on the morning of Sunday, October 11.
Zelensky was also reported to have said: “Don’t attack us. Don’t kill our children. We will stop hitting your refineries. I think that’s a fair deal.” All of these statements were made before Trump’s message calling on both Russia and Ukraine to observe a ceasefire regarding attacks on energy infrastructure — urging both sides not to violate it.
I am grateful to all our emergency services, who are always there for our people and work to address the aftermath of brutal Russian strikes. Only this morning, search and rescue operations were completed in Zaporizhzhia, where Russia killed 23 people, including four children.… pic.twitter.com/RwqK1tEr2e
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 11, 2026
