MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump is once again telling Ukrainians to hold wartime elections and ditch their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Trump blames Zelenskyy for letting the war drag on. He also blames Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries for global fuel prices. The president lifted sanctions on Russian diesel and talked of an energy ceasefire. In a moment, we'll hear a skeptic of those claims, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
MARTIN: Joining us now to talk about the latest is NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Joanna, good morning.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: How are Ukrainians reacting to Trump's call to remove Zelenskyy?
KAKISSIS: Well, Michel, every time Trump does this, it seems to make Zelenskyy more popular here. Just having conversations with Ukrainians in Kyiv yesterday and also reading comments online, one theme clearly emerged - that Ukrainians say, you know, Zelenskyy is far from ideal, but outsiders don't get to decide whether we should hold elections or who we should get rid of. I spoke with Oleksandr Merezhko. He's from Zelenskyy's party and he leads the Foreign Affairs Committee in parliament. And he says that this idea actually comes from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO: Putin understands that if he manages to remove somehow Zelenskyy, maybe with the help of Trump, it will weaken seriously Ukraine during the war. It's a very dangerous idea. And the key question is whether President Trump will align himself with Putin in his attempt to ruin Ukraine and to pressure us into capitulation.
MARTIN: Do other Ukrainians feel this way?
KAKISSIS: Yeah. Zelenskyy's term ended in 2024. But, you know, public opinion polls here show most Ukrainians do not want to hold elections in the middle of the war. They do criticize Zelenskyy's governing style. And they worry he may have some shady people in his circle. But I saw this poll recently that shows, you know, about half of Ukrainians do not want him to run for a second term, but only when elections are held after the war ends. Most Ukrainians realize that holding elections now is dangerous. There's no ceasefire. And Russia is bombing Ukrainian cities multiple times a day.
MARTIN: President Trump claims that both Ukraine and Russia have agreed to an energy ceasefire. Is that actually happening?
KAKISSIS: Well, you know, Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he did not know anything about the ceasefire. This would involve both sides halting attacks on energy facilities. And in his evening video address Sunday night, Zelenskyy said he welcomes such a ceasefire.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: He's saying, let's make it happen - Ukraine supports real paths to ending this war and is ready to stop striking Russian energy infrastructure if Russia reciprocates in Ukraine. But then he pointed out that even after Trump declared the ceasefire, Russia attacked a power plant in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. And I should note that Trump has announced an energy ceasefire before and nothing came of that.
MARTIN: So where does Ukraine go from here? Is there any hope of ending this war?
KAKISSIS: Well, Ukraine says it's hitting Russian oil refineries to weaken the Kremlin's ability to wage war. Merezhko, the Ukrainian lawmaker, says his country has the right to fight back. And he says Trump is using Ukraine as a scapegoat, blaming the Ukrainians for rising fuel prices instead of the U.S. war on Iran. And he says Trump's envoys in peace negotiations, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, they don't care about Ukraine.
MEREZHKO: They don't care much about values or lives of people in Ukraine. They want to make a quick deal at the expense of Ukraine. And how you can make a quick deal? Only by pressuring Ukraine into surrender.
KAKISSIS: And, Michel, he says Ukraine will learn to survive, even if the U.S. does abandon it.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Joanna, thank you.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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