Lithuania's Nausėda defends Ukraine's right to its elected leaders after Trump calls for new president

Why it matters

A sitting US president publicly called for a change of leadership in a country at war, raising questions about how much influence Washington should have over Ukrainian domestic politics. With Zelensky's five-year term having expired in 2024 and martial law keeping him in office, any debate about new elections touches on Ukraine's constitutional order. Several named figures — including former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now ambassador to the UK, and current office head Kyrylo Budanov — are already being discussed as possible successors, making the US demand relevant to Ukraine's internal political landscape. Allied leaders have publicly weighed in, and the call followed a US announcement of a deal with Russia on diesel fuel, tying the political demand to energy and economic interests.

What happened

On Saturday, October 10, US President Donald Trump said it was time for Ukraine to elect a new president, adding that Zelensky should have held elections and could have settled the issue many times. Trump accused Zelensky of being the main obstacle to a peaceful settlement with Russia and said Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries over months had harmed global diesel supplies; one account placed the statement shortly after Trump announced a US-Russia deal on diesel fuel supplies.

In response, Zelensky said Ukrainians should choose their own president and said he was ready to organize elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day full ceasefire. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Zelensky has the support of the people and that only the people have the right to decide the matter.

On Monday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda responded, saying Ukraine has the right to the leaders it has elected and that Zelensky, elected in 2019, has earned respect. Nausėda acknowledged that under normal circumstances presidential elections should already have taken place, since the term has expired, but said that if there were even a short ceasefire — such as the 60 days without fire Zelensky himself mentioned — elections could be held. He declined to assess whether Trump's remarks constitute US interference in Ukraine's internal politics, called them spontaneous, and said he would not make a drama out of nothing, adding that it would be good if the US, as a major ally, helped give Ukraine the opportunity to hold elections.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian-language sources lead with Lithuanian President Nausėda's response defending Ukraine's right to its elected leaders, foregrounding allied support rather than the US demand itself. They pair Nausėda's remarks with Zelensky's conditional offer to hold elections if Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire, presenting a unified counter-position, and include Sybiha's statement that only the people can decide. They also detail potential domestic successors — Zaluzhny, Budanov, and Fedorov — with biographical and polling data, framing the story around Ukraine's internal political landscape.

How international sources describe it

The Arabic-language Qatari source leads with the US demand itself, posing the question of who could challenge Zelensky and profiling Zaluzhny, Budanov, and Fedorov as potential rivals. It emphasizes Trump's accusations that Zelensky is the main obstacle to peace and that Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries harmed global diesel supplies, presenting the issue as a US-led challenge to Zelensky's leadership rather than centering allied support for Ukraine's elected leadership.

Where reporting differs

Sources differ on whether Trump's statement constitutes interference in Ukraine's internal affairs: Nausėda declined to characterize it that way, calling the remarks spontaneous and saying he would not dramatize them. They also differ on whether elections should or could be held — Zelensky conditioned them on Russia agreeing to a 60-day full ceasefire, while Nausėda noted they should already have taken place but said they could be organized during a short ceasefire window. A sharper split runs between Trump's framing of Zelensky as the main obstacle to a settlement and Zelensky's framing that the choice of Ukraine's president belongs to Ukrainians and is conditional on a ceasefire. One account also ties Trump's call to a US-Russia diesel fuel deal and his criticism of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, while other accounts do not foreground this energy angle.

Background

Ukraine's presidential election was last held in 2019, and Zelensky's five-year term ended in 2024; the constitution and martial law provisions allow him to remain in office during the war. The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing for four and a half years, and Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Trump previously made sharp public attacks on Zelensky during their tense Oval Office meeting in February 2025. The Kyiv-based Rating Group has measured public trust in several potential successors, including Zaluzhny (64% trust, 25% distrust) and Budanov (53% trust, 31% distrust).