Ukraine’s president has said he would step down in return for peace and NATO membership for his country.

“If (it means) peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a news conference.

“I can exchange this for NATO [membership], if that condition is there, immediately,” he added.

Donald Trump has previously said Ukraine is unlikely to become a NATO ally and membership is a red line for Russia.

Mr Zelenskyy’s comment appeared to be a response to Mr Trump recently calling him a “dictator” as Ukraine hadn’t held fresh elections – despite laws prohibiting it during wartime

During a wide-ranging conference in Kyiv, Mr Zelenskyy also said talks on a minerals deal with the US were moving forward, adding “all is OK”, despite concerns of a stalemate in negotiations.

President Trump said on Saturday a deal was “pretty close” and he was determined to get payback for billions of dollars of aid provided to Ukraine.

Ukraine wants the deal to include robust security guarantees over any future peace settlement with Russia.

Mr Zelenskyy also told Sky’s Deborah Hayes that next week’s visits to Washington by Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron were vital.

He said Europe had to be “at the table” when a peace deal is negotiated.

“Who will represent Europe – I can’t tell you now exactly,” he said.

“But I think one person will represent the EU. And of course, the UK has to be at the table, if we speak, for example, about security guarantees.”

The prime minister has said he’s prepared to deploy British troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.

The Ukrainian leader was speaking after his country was hit overnight with what he called the biggest drone attack since the war started.

Mr Zelenskyy condemned Russia for the “aerial terror” – a day before the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“Every day, our people stand against aerial terror,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote on X.

“On the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale war, Russia launched 267 attack drones against Ukraine – the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages.”

A total of 138 of the drones were shot down and another 119 disappeared from radars after being jammed by electronic warfare, Ukraine’s air force said.

Damage was reported across five regions.

Mr Zelenskyy said nearly 1,150 drones, more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 35 missiles had been launched at Ukraine in the past week.

He thanked those operating air defences and called on allies to stand united to secure a “just and lasting peace”.

“This is achievable through the unity of all partners – we need the strength of all of Europe, the strength of America, the strength of everyone who seeks lasting peace,” he said.

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It comes amid concerns over Mr Trump’s recent war of words with Mr Zelenskyy and his false claim that Ukraine had started the war.

At a conservative conference on Saturday, Mr Trump – who alarmed Europe and Ukraine by holding a recent call with Vladimir Putin – repeated his optimism that a peace deal is possible under his watch.

“I’ve spoken to President Putin and I think that thing [the war] is going to end,” said Mr Trump.

Ukraine has insisted it won’t accept any peace deal agreed without its participation, after it was excluded from a meeting between US and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia.

Voters are heading to the polls in Germany’s general election.

They are electing a new parliament after a campaign focused on the state of Europe’s biggest economy and calls to restrict migration.

The vote also comes at a time of fragile relations between Europe and the US over Ukraine’s future in its war with Russia.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in parliament last December, paving the way for an early election.

Mr Scholz, leader of Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), had governed as the head of a fractious three-party coalition until it collapsed the previous month when he sacked his finance minister.

He had weeks of disputes with Christian Lindner over how to kickstart Germany’s stagnant economy.

Mr Lindner and his colleagues in the Free Democrats Party (FDP) promptly quit the coalition, leaving the SPD and their remaining partner, the Greens, without a majority in parliament.

Germany’s constitution does not allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, so a confidence vote was needed to set in motion the early election, which is being held seven months ahead of schedule.

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, has vowed to revive the stagnant economy and defend Europe’s interests in the face of a confrontational White House.

The far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany is looking to make gains – but has no other party willing to go into government with it.

Pope Francis had a “tranquil” night and rested in hospital, the Vatican has said.

Unlike previous updates since the Pope was admitted to hospital on 14 February, the Vatican didn’t say whether he had gotten up or had breakfast.

The 88-year-old has been in hospital for more than a week as he receives treatment for double pneumonia and chronic bronchitis.

On Saturday night, the Vatican said the Pope was in a critical condition after a “prolonged respiratory crisis” that required a high-flow of oxygen.

He also had blood transfusions after tests revealed thrombocytopenia, which is associated with anaemia.

Doctors said the prognosis was “reserved”.

In an update earlier on Saturday morning, the Vatican said he will not lead Sunday prayers for the second week running, adding: “The Pope rested well.”

Francis, who has been leading the Catholic Church since 2013, is likely to prepare a written homily for someone else to read at Sunday’s Angelus.

Millions of people around the world have been concerned about the Pope’s increasingly frail health – and his condition has given rise to speculation over a possible resignation, which the Vatican has not commented on.

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Doctors on Friday said he was “not out of danger” and was expected to remain at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for at least another week.

Sergio Alfieri, the chief of the pontiff’s medical team, said: “Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is ‘is he in danger of death’, the answer is ‘no’.”

Doctors warned that while he did not have sepsis – where germs enter the bloodstream – there was always a risk the infection could spread in his body, and they said that was the biggest concern.

Sepsis is a complication of an infection that can lead to organ failure and death.

Pope Francis has a history of respiratory illness, having lost part of one of his lungs to pleurisy as a young man.

He had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023.