Get RID of Zelensky!
The David Vance BriefingRead More
President Trump is quite right: if we are to see peace between Ukraine and Russia, the little Kiev grifter Zelensky has to go. Trump did not mince his words in this recent response, making clear that Zelensky’s refusal to make deals and his continued provocations are the main obstacles to ending the war.
The message was blunt but understandable—yet it immediately triggered the usual Euroweenies, including British Mayor Andy Burnham. They rushed to pledge undying fealty to Ukraine’s borders, a loyalty that somehow transcends any serious determination to defend their own!
What provoked Trump’s frustration is that he has repeatedly urged Zelensky not to attack Russian oil infrastructure. Zelensky has ignored these warnings.
To put this in some sort of context, Russia has historically been a major diesel exporter—the world’s second-largest in 2025. Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have critically disrupted this. In 2025, Russia exported about 817,000 barrels a day; by early August this year, that had collapsed to roughly 80,000 barrels a day. Against this backdrop, Russia has banned or tightly restricted diesel exports to protect its domestic supply..
All of this is really unhelpful to Trump’s efforts to lower U.S. diesel prices ahead of next month’s midterms. Record US pump prices—averaging over $6 a gallon nationally—are hammering American truckers, farmers, and rural voters who form a core part of the Republican base. Every sustained disruption tightens global markets further and then feeds inflation across supply chains. A cynic might conclude Zelensky is working with European leaders to damage GOP chances in November.
After all, if Republicans lose ground, Trump will have less leverage to restrain Ukraine as it continues strikes that prolong the conflict and raise the risk of wider escalation. Peace requires a Ukrainian leader willing to negotiate rather than sabotage energy markets for political effect. As is so often the case, Trump is right.
To add fuel to the fire, Trump has just announced an agreement with Putin to resume Russian diesel exports. Under the deal, Russia can supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately to American and global markets, followed by another 500,000 tons in November and a further million tons shortly afterward, with larger volumes contingent on the condition of Russian refineries. In exchange, the U.S. Treasury has temporarily licensed those shipments through next April, partially easing sanctions that had kept Russian refined products off world markets.
Critics in Kiev and European capitals have denounced the arrangement as a “gift to Putin,” arguing it will finance further Russian aggression. Yet the alternative they appear to prefer—continued Ukrainian attacks on Russian refining capacity—has already collapsed Russian diesel exports tightening global supplies and raising costs for American truckers and farmers.
Trump’s calculation here is that limited, conditional Russian sales can stabilise prices without requiring a full-scale lifting of broader energy sanctions. It also reduces the incentive for further strikes that risk wider escalation.
Now whether these volumes materialise as promised will depend to a degree on Ukrainian restraint and the actual state of Russia’s damaged refineries; the political intent, however, is clear: prioritise lower fuel costs for Americans over open-ended support for a war strategy that has so far failed to produce peace.
I feel that the past four years have been a terrible waste and all so unnecessary! We needn’t go into the murky origins of this conflict which in my opinion go back to 2014 if not further back. But we can surely agree that the horrific loss of life on both sides has achieved little. Ukraine has lost around a quarter of it’s pre 2022 territory. Russia has lost perhaps a million young men.
It’s been obvious that WITHOUT US assets, Ukraine collapses in its war aims. Trump should use his muscle to pull all US support, pressurise Zelensky to step aside, and push Putin for a full and final settlement.
Post Script
After writing this piece, I read that Zelensky has suddenly decided that he now support the ‘Energy Ceasefire” proposed by the US President whilst simultaneously accusing Russia of breaching it!
All this says to me that there will NEVER be peace whilst Zelensky is in power.
He needs removed from it. Sharpish.
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