Zelenskyy willing to resign ‘immediately’ in exchange for Ukraine’s NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Sunday that he is willing to “immediately” step down from his position if it would lead to Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

Speaking during a press conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said, “If there is peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready. … I can exchange it for NATO.” He emphasized his readiness to resign if it ensures Ukraine’s security and integration into the alliance.

Zelenskyy has been calling for Ukraine to be given NATO membership as part of any deal to end the war, but the Washington-led alliance has been reluctant to make a pledge.

Zelenskyy has faced fierce criticism from the new U.S. administration and said he wantss to meet Donald Trump before the U.S. president meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy and U.S. President Trump have been engaged in a war of words since US and Russian officials met last week in Saudi Arabia for their first high-level talks in three years. The move shook the West’s policy to isolate the Kremlin and infuriated Ukrainian and European leaders as they were not invited.

Trump calls Zelenskyy ‘dictator’

In a series of verbal attacks over the last week, Trump has branded Zelenskyy a “dictator”, falsely claimed Ukraine “started” the war and said, contrary to independent opinion polls, that Zelenskyy was unpopular at home.

Zelenskyy said he was not “offended” by Trump’s comments and was ready to test his popularity in elections once martial law ends in Ukraine.

“One would be offended by the word ‘dictator,’ if he was a dictator,” Zelenskyy told the press conference.

“I want very much from Trump understanding of each other,” he said, adding that “security guarantees” from the U.S. president were “much needed”.

The Ukrainian leader also called for Trump to meet with him before any summit with Putin. He added that there had been “progress” on a deal to give the U.S. preferential access to Ukraine’s critical resources.