Putin has tried to oust Zelenskyy for years. Now, U.S. pressure might do the job.

Vladimir Putin has for years unsuccessfully tried to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Now those efforts are being entertained by U.S. officials.

LONDON — Russia's Vladimir Putin has for years unsuccessfully tried to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Now, those efforts are being entertained by senior officials in Ukraine’s single most important backer, the United States.

Either Zelenskyy “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country to do that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Two days after the Ukrainian president was publicly berated by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, and asked to leave the White House without signing an important deal, Johnson said it was “up to the Ukrainians to figure that out.”

National security adviser Mike Waltz said Washington needed “a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end this war.” He told CNN that “if it becomes apparent that President Zelenskyy’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in this country, then I think we have a real issue.”

Meanwhile Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he wasn’t sure if the U.S. “can ever do business with Zelenskyy again.” He said that Ukraine’s leader “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”

Critics say this plays into the hands of Russia, aiding Moscow’s yearslong bid to oust Ukraine’s pro-Western leader, while fanning Kyiv’s domestic political divisions during wartime.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-zelenskyy-ukraine-russia-trump-rcna194462

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