In the midst of an ongoing public disagreement with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated his willingness to resign his position if it would secure NATO membership for Ukraine.
This surprising revelation comes as Zelensky expresses his displeasure over being excluded from initial discussions between Russian officials and a White House delegation in Ryiad earlier this week.
During a press conference in Kyiv on Sunday, Zelensky expressed his readiness to step down from his role to facilitate the peace process. However, he swiftly added a condition to his offer, suggesting that his resignation would be contingent on Ukraine's acceptance into NATO, a proposition that Russia, according to the Kremlin, has categorically rejected. "If there is peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready. I can exchange it for NATO," Zelensky stated, as reported by Londons Daily Telegraph.
As reported by Breitbart, Zelensky's remarks follow President Trump's recent characterization of him as a "dictator" for cancelling presidential and legislative elections last year under martial law, implemented in the wake of the Russian invasion.
Zelensky refuted this label but maintained that he was not offended by Trump's words, stating, "I wouldnt call Donald Trumps words a compliment I wasnt offended, but a dictator would be. Im not. Im the legally elected president.
The United States, a key financial and military supporter of Kyiv, has indicated that NATO membership for Ukraine is unlikely. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated, The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.
However, there have been suggestions that NATO membership could be used as a bargaining chip to ensure Russia's adherence to any future peace agreement. This would involve granting Ukraine immediate automatic membership if Moscow violated the agreement, although this proposal has not yet been publicly confirmed by Washington.
During his press conference, Zelensky also addressed the issue of Ukraines mineral rights. President Trump has suggested that these could be utilized to reimburse the American taxpayer money spent supporting Ukraines war efforts. Despite earlier reports that Zelensky was not ready to discuss a mineral deal, he stated on Sunday that we are making progress and that his government had engaged in discussions with Washington about the issue earlier in the day.
Zelensky, however, dismissed the idea that Ukraine owes America for the hundreds of billions spent on the conflict and stated that he would not sign a deal that will be paid by 10 generations of Ukrainians. He further demanded a meeting with President Trump to discuss this and other issues before any meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky's strategy of publicly airing his positions has seemingly irked some members of the Trump administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed his personal disappointment last week, stating that Zelensky appeared to be sending mixed messages depending on the context.
Rubio revealed that he and his team had spoken to Zelensky about a joint venture on minerals, which could serve as a form of security guarantee instead of American military presence, a proposal to which Zelensky seemed receptive.
Rubio expressed his frustration, stating, I read two days later that Zelensky is out there saying, I rejected the deal. I told him, No way, that were not doing that. Thats not what happened in that meeting, adding that President Trump will not tolerate such counter-messaging to try to, you know, hustle us in that regard.
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