Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said he is willing to give up his position if it means peace in Ukraine, adding that he could exchange his departure for his country’s entry into the NATO military alliance.
“If (it means) peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” Zelenskyy said.
“I can exchange this for NATO (membership), if that condition is there, immediately,” he added.
US President Donald Trump has pushed for elections to take place in Ukraine, , an apparent reference to the Ukrainian leader’s official five-year term running out in 2024.
Russia has cited this in the past to assert that he is an illegitimate leader.
Ukrainian legislation prohibits holding elections during a state of martial law, which Ukraine declared the day Russia invaded in February 2022.
‘It’s not a mistake, it’s misinformation’
Trump also falsely claimed that Zelenskyy has an approval rating of 4 per cent.
“I am not going to be in power for decades, but we will not allow Putin to be in power over the territories of Ukraine either,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A poll released this week put Zelenskyy’s approval ratings at 63 per cent, and he made reference to this when talking about Trump’s claims on Sunday, calling his false statements “dangerous”.
“I believe it’s not a mistake, it’s misinformation that has an impact,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said earlier this week , angering the US President and his team. On Sunday, he sought to justify the earlier comments.
“(The information) about 4 per cent of Ukrainians supporting me is one of the signals spread by the Russians, that’s why I said it was a disinformation attack, I didn’t say it was President Trump,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
The Ukrainian president also said he wanted to see Trump as a partner for Ukraine and more than simply a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.
“I really want it to be more than just mediation … that’s not enough,” he told a press conference in Kyiv.
’10 generations will be repaying’
Trump has said Ukraine should give $787 billion in critical raw materials as payback for aid Kyiv received during his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration.
Zelenskyy declined to sign a detailed US proposal last week that would have seen Washington receiving 50 per cent of Ukraine’s critical minerals, which include graphite, uranium, titanium and lithium, the latter a key component in electric car batteries.
He has said he wants to do a deal, but that it should offer security guarantees for Ukraine in return.
On Friday, he said US and Ukrainian teams were working on a deal and Trump said he expects a deal will be signed soon.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy said at the press conference that he rejected the idea that Ukraine owed US$787 billion ($1.2 billion).
“There cannot be (any) format which makes us debtors for the old (aid given),” he said.
“I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will be repaying.”
Ukraine’s economy minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on Sunday that the 18 per cent of Ukraine under Russian occupation contained about US$551 billion ($864 billion) of critical raw materials, adding that Ukraine is conducting additional geological research to update decades-old information.