By KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said for the first time on Sunday that he would be willing to resign from his post in exchange for peace in Ukraine or NATO membership.
“If it is peace for Ukraine, and if you really want me to leave my post, I’m ready,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv. “Alternatively, I can trade this for NATO membership, if such conditions exist, immediately, so we don’t have lengthy discussions. I’m focusing on Ukraine’s security today, not in 20 years. And I don’t intend to stay in power for decades.”
The offer would represent a significant personal concession for Zelenskyy in exchange for what he sees as imperative security guarantees for Ukraine.
It followed social media posts last week from President Donald Trump in which the president repeated a number of inaccuracies such as that the democratically-elected Ukrainian leader is a “dictator” and that he talked the U.S. into spending $350 billion on military aid.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the European Council Summit in Brussels on Oct. 17, 2024.Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto via Getty Images file
That public spat also included Trump suggesting that Zelenskyy was responsible for starting the war. In reality, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, initiating the current land war.
Those allegations saw Trump echo criticism from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for all but four of the past 25 years via elections widely considered illegitimate but has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Zelenskyy’s continuing leadership.
Ukraine last held a presidential election in 2019 and was due to hold one last April, but Zelenskyy has said in the past that it is not possible for Ukrainians to go to the polls in wartime and that view is also backed up by the country’s constitution. Recent polls have shown that Zelenskyy is still broadly popular in Ukraine.
While the Ukrainian president last week responded to Trump’s allegations by saying that the president was living in “a disinformation bubble,” when asked about Trump on Sunday, Zelenskyy told reporters in Ukrainian that “we are partners and I want him on our side.”
Asked directly about some of the things Trump has said about him over the past week, Zelenskyy said, “There is no space for emotions. I have pragmatic position. I can’t name these words a compliment, but what can I do?”
“I am the elected president by 73% of Ukrainian people. After the martial law, there will be elections. Perhaps he will say something good about me. It is more important what Ukrainians think about me,” the Ukrainian president added.
The feud comes as the U.S. and Russia have resumed high-level talks and several senior Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.
Trump has pledged to begin peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, saying on Friday that it’s not important for Zelenskyy to attend peace negotiations because “he’s been at meetings for three years and nothing got done.”
“I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you,” Trump told Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade. “He’s been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals. But look what’s happened to his country, it’s been demolished.”
Earlier this month, during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy told moderator Kristen Welker that he would not accept a peace deal without Ukraine at the negotiating table.
“I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine, never,” he said in English in that interview. “This is the war in Ukraine, against us, and it’s our human losses.”
Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv and Alexandra Marquez reported from Washington.
