JOEL ROSE, HOST:
President Trump and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine have had a stormy relationship, and this weekend, it's taken another chaotic turn. On Friday, Trump announced an agreement with Russia's President Putin to ease sanctions and reopen flows of diesel fuel. That did not go over well in Kyiv. Zelenskyy called Trump, quote, "weak," unquote. Trump responded yesterday saying Ukraine should get a new president.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals, and for some reason, he never does.
ROSE: Then today, Zelenskyy offered to hold new elections, but only if there is a ceasefire, as he told ABC's "This Week."
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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days off - total ceasefire, 60 days - and we will organize elections.
ROSE: Shortly afterward, President Trump posted on Truth Social that both parties have agreed to an energy ceasefire. But Zelenskyy told media outlets that was news to him. This geopolitical tussling matters. The war between Ukraine and Russia is in its fourth year. U.S. military and financial aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance, and the fighting has exacerbated a global energy crisis.
To understand the view from Kyiv tonight, we called Oleksandr Merezhko. He's a member of Ukraine's Parliament and the chairman of its committee on foreign policy. I asked him if he knows anything about a ceasefire.
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO: First of all, there is absolutely no ceasefire because right now, I'm sitting in a dark apartment when there is no power, when there is no water. In the morning, there were nonstop air-raid alerts going off. Then I heard loud - rather loud explosions. So we don't have any ceasefire or energy truce whatsoever. And to me, this statement by President Trump came as a quite surprise.
ROSE: What do you think is going on? I mean, he says both parties have agreed.
MEREZHKO: First of all, our President Volodymyr Zelenskyy - he didn't confirm that there is any ceasefire. But I'm afraid that it's part of internal American politics on the eve of the midterm elections. And maybe President Trump - well, actually, it's his typical political style, maybe, to make such statements which later are not confirmed.
ROSE: Diplomatically speaking, are things as bad as they look?
MEREZHKO: Well, first of all, the good news about all the story is that American Congress - most of them are on the side of Ukraine. The situation is not that bad. Of course, there might be some disagreements between President Trump and President Zelenskyy, but it's a normal thing. So I think it's part of normal diplomatic or political process.
ROSE: What is the state of Ukrainian infrastructure? And what is your incentive to try to stop attacks from Russia on that infrastructure right now?
MEREZHKO: Our critical infrastructure is being hit practically each day, and it's not in the best shape. But at the same time, the thing is that ahead of us is a very difficult winter and Putin will definitely weaponize. This winter, he wants to continue to destroy us. He wants to create humanitarian catastrophe. We're trying to prepare our power grid for that. But of course, we understand that the coming winter will be very difficult.
ROSE: What has been the reaction in Ukraine today to these latest developments?
MEREZHKO: We were outraged, honestly speaking, by this so-called diesel deal between President Trump and Putin because, yes, it's taken as a betrayal because we don't understand what's going on. Putin is conducting a crime of genocide against Ukrainian people. And if our closest friend, the United States, is giving some support or giving money to Russian war machine, it's tantamount to helping Putin to kill us.
ROSE: As you know, the midterm elections here in the U.S. are looming, and President Trump wants diesel supplies for Americans urgently, and he has blamed Ukraine, in part, for the high diesel prices that U.S. farmers and truckers are facing. How do you respond to that?
MEREZHKO: We wouldn't like Ukraine to become a hostage to internal political struggle in the United States. And we understand that situation before the midterm elections is getting tense, but Ukraine cannot be blamed. I believe it's very unfair and even immoral to blame the victim of the aggression. We're trying to protect ourselves. We're trying to destroy Russian war machine, which is killing us. And the only way to do it is to deprive Russia of oil revenues and its capabilities, including oil refineries. So - and I believe that the United States - it should support, not blame the victim. To me, it's deeply immoral.
ROSE: I've been speaking to Oleksandr Merezhko. He is a member of Ukraine's Parliament and the chairman of its committee on foreign policy. Thank you very much for joining us.
MEREZHKO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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