Zelenskyy says he would give up presidency in return for peace and NATO membership for Ukraine
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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Starmer trip to US vital, Zelenskyy tells Sky News
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.
Mr Zelenskyy said more than 260 drones were fired at Ukraine overnight. Pic: Reuters
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.
Read more:
Fact-checking Trump’s claims on Zelenskyy and Ukraine
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump calls Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’
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.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway