Zelenskyy offers to resign in exchange for Ukrainian NATO membership

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday – the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion – that he was ready to quit as Ukraine’s president if it meant Kyiv would be admitted to the NATO military alliance.

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

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.

“If there is peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready. … I can exchange it for NATO,” Zelenskyy told a Kyiv press conference, adding he would depart “immediately” if necessary.

Zelenskyy and 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.

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 US 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 United States preferential access to Ukraine’s critical resources.