Zelenskyy suggests he would give up presidency for ‘peace’ in Ukraine
Zelenskyy, who was democratically elected the president of Ukraine in May 2019, was asked if he would be willing to “give up” being president of Ukraine in exchange for peace. “Yes, I am happy, if it is for the peace of Ukraine,” he told the press conference.
“If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready to do that, and I also can exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy added.
His comments came after Donald Trump called the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” earlier in the week.
Ukrainian legislation bans elections during martial law, which has been in place since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. Few Ukrainians support the idea of a poll at a time when Russia’s invasion has forced millions to flee abroad, and when Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and dying on the frontline, as my colleagues note in this story.
Key events
New York City’s Ukrainian community is “disappointed” after Trump’s ‘betrayal.”
As the US upends decades of foreign policy, those watching the war unfold from miles away resolve to stand strong.
The Guardian’s Anna Betts reports:
Members of New York’s large Ukrainian community expressed a mix of disillusionment, betrayal, defiance and acute uncertainty about what the future holds for Ukraine after tensions escalated this week between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Geopolitical events in the last week have shocked Ukrainians at home and overseas as well as US lawmakers and allies, as the US president appeared to heavily favor the Russian president Vladimir Putin to dictate peace terms on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, labeling him “a dictator” and falsely claiming Ukraine started the war.
Zelenskyy expressed extreme frustration at being excluded – as were European leaders – as the US and Russia began negotiations to end the war. Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a Kremlin “disinformation bubble”, while US aides countered by telling Zelenskyy to “tone down” his remarks.
With the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaching on Monday, the unprecedented escalation of tensions between Kyiv and Washington, amid Trump upending decades of US foreign policy by leaning away from Europe and towards Russia, has sparked concerns about future American support for Ukraine.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested he would be willing to step down “for peace”.
The Ukrainian president made the comment after Donald Trump called him a ‘dictator without elections’ earlier in the week. Zelenskyy was democratically elected in 2019 and has remained president since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Summary of day so far
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he would give up his presidency in exchange for Nato membership and “peace in Ukraine”.
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Zelenskyy said he hoped tomorrow’s meeting with European leaders in Ukraine – which will likely largely focus on security guarantees for Kyiv ahead of so-called peace talks – will be a “turning point”.
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Zelenskyy said he wanted to see Donald Trump as a partner to Ukraine and more than a simply a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.
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Russia launched a large-scale drone attack across 13 regions of Ukraine overnight, a day before the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Russia launched a “record” 267 drones on Ukraine in a single, coordinated attack, killing at least three people, according to officials.
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Russia’s defence ministry said 20 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed but did not comment specifically on the drone attack.
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The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, will travel to Washington next week to make the case for supporting Ukraine and to urge the US not to rush a ceasefire deal.
In response to a question about hosting elections, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said:
“I mean, how would you recognise the elections where half of the population would not be able to vote? Because that would be the case … They won’t be able to do that. People forget when they’re raising the question like: ‘What do we do with the temporarily occupied territories now, what the people are going to do there, how they’re going to vote?’”
He added:
“How are the people going to travel there amidst the combat operations? Who’s going to let them go? Or we are willing to tell them, like something in this case, Russians will be controlling the elections in the temporarily occupied territories? There are so many questions like that.”
Ukrainian president Vlodymyr Zelenskyy is speaking to reporters, saying, “We would really like it as a priority for the US to first talk to us, then to Russia.”
He went on to add, “They can discuss whatever they want in their relations…but it is not possible to decide anything about Ukraine without us. We will not recognize any such agreements, regardless of format.”
Earlier this week, the US and Russia held bilateral talks on the future of Ukraine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which Ukraine was not invited to.
Zelenskyy has criticized the meeting and Ukraine’s lack of an invite, prompting Donald Trump to falsely blame the Ukrainian president for starting the Ukraine-Russia war in 2022.
The security guarantee that Zelenskyy really wants is Nato membership. European members of the military alliance still back that goal (at least publicly), but Washington appears to have taken it off the table for now, along with Ukrainian hopes of regaining the 20% of its territory seized by Russia.
In the absence of Nato membership, Zelenskyy has said that more than 100,000 European troops could be needed in Ukraine to guarantee the fighting does not start again after any potential ceasefire.
Zelenskyy hopes EU leaders meeting in Ukraine on Monday will mark ‘turning point’
EU and world leaders are due to head to Kyiv tomorrow to show their support for Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discuss security guarantees. Zelenskyy said he hopes tomorrow’s meeting will be a “turning point”. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are among those expected to attend the meeting in person.
“We need partnership, we need help but we can’t lose our independence, we can’t lose our dignity,” Zelenskyy said.
As well as security guarantees – which Zelenskyy says Europe and the US can give Kyiv – the Ukrainian leader said the European leaders will speak about their strategy “not for the coming years, but for the coming weeks”.
French President Emmanuel Macron will head to the White House tomorrow on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer follows later in the week.
“I am going there to say that the security of the French and the Europeans is important,” Macron said over the weekend. Russia, he said, is “heavily armed” and continues to become “even more heavily-armed”.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine ‘making progress’ with US on resources deal
Zelenskyy has been asked about a deal on US access to Ukraine’s critical minerals.
“We are making progress,” he said, adding that Ukrainian and US officials had been in touch about the deal earlier in the day. “We are ready to share,” the Ukrainian leader said, but made clear that Washington first needs to ensure Vladimir Putin “ends this war”.
The White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Friday that Zelenskyy was expected to sign a deal imminently. Zelenskyy said the same day that Ukrainian and US teams were working on a draft agreement. “I am hoping for … a fair result,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that he wanted to see Donald Trump as a partner to Ukraine and more than a simply a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.
“I really want it to be more than just mediation… that’s not enough,” he told the press conference. His comments come as political leaders in Europe fear Kyiv is being sidelined in talks to bring an end to the war.
The Ukrainian president has invited Trump to Ukraine and he wants him there “very much”, but he said this “unfortunately” has not been achieved yet.
The US has proposed a UN resolution on the war that omits any mention of Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has been reporting. It appeared to rival a draft resolution produced by Ukraine and its European allies that stresses the need to redouble diplomatic efforts to end the war this year. Washington’s text last week called for a “swift end to the conflict” without mentioning Kyiv’s territorial integrity, and was welcomed by Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, as “a good move”.
Zelenskyy suggests he would give up presidency for ‘peace’ in Ukraine
Zelenskyy, who was democratically elected the president of Ukraine in May 2019, was asked if he would be willing to “give up” being president of Ukraine in exchange for peace. “Yes, I am happy, if it is for the peace of Ukraine,” he told the press conference.
“If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready to do that, and I also can exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy added.
His comments came after Donald Trump called the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” earlier in the week.
Ukrainian legislation bans elections during martial law, which has been in place since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. Few Ukrainians support the idea of a poll at a time when Russia’s invasion has forced millions to flee abroad, and when Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and dying on the frontline, as my colleagues note in this story.
Zelenskyy says the option of Ukraine joining Nato is ‘still on table’ despite Russian opposition
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is making a speech on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, concluding the Ukraine: Year 2025 forum in Kyiv. He said he is focused on Ukraine’s security now, not in 20 years. He reiterated his desire for security guarantees to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position during so-called peace talks. The Ukrainian leader said Nato “is the cheapest option” and said it is “still on the table” even though Russia has said Ukraine joining the defensive alliance would pose a “direct threat” to it. He insists that a deal made without Ukraine’s direct involvement in talks would not be recognised.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has been speaking at the Ukraine Year 2025 forum being held in Kyiv (see comments made by other politicians here in post at 13.34)
Sybiha said “it is time to fasten our diplomatic seat belts” and “not give in to emotions”, adding that Kyiv is “convinced that we really have a chance to end the war this year”. He said it is important to cooperate with the Trump administration to secure a just and long-lasting “peace”.
In a post on X earlier today, Sybiha said the huge overnight Russian drone attack “demonstrates that avoiding calling Russia an aggressor does not change the fact that it is one”.
“No one should trust Putin’s words. Look at his actions instead,” he said.
