Zelensky Offers Up His Own Resignation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to President Trump calling him a "dictator without elections" on Sunday, denying the charge and suggesting he'd leave the presidency if it meant long-lasting peace for Ukraine. For peace, "I am ready to do that. And I also can exchange it for NATO membership for Ukraine," he said at a press conference, per the BBC. Though NBC News calls it "a major concession," it may have been "a tongue-in-cheek offer" since Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin oppose NATO membership for Ukraine, per the New York Times. Though elections are currently banned while the country is under martial law, Zelensky, a democratically-elected leader, said he did not intend "to stay in power for decades."

"After the martial law, there will be elections. Perhaps [Trump] will say something good about me," he said, per NBC. But "it is more important what Ukrainians think about me." Turning focus to US aid negotiations, Zelensky suggested Ukraine was "ready to share" its rare earth minerals. But he said he would not accept the latest US proposal, which lacked security guarantees yet would've required Ukraine to pay $500 billion to the US though natural resource revenues. The sum is "more than twice the value of Ukraine's economic output in 2021," per the Times. Zelensky claimed US aid has totaled around $120 billion so far and took issue with a term in the proposed deal that he says "states that for every dollar of [future US] aid, Ukraine must return $2."

US efforts ought to represent "peace through force, but toward Russia, not in the other direction," said Zelensky, per the Times. He spoke hours after Russia launched what Ukraine said was its largest single drone attack on the country since war erupted three years ago. Noting representatives of more than 30 countries would meet virtually or in person Monday at a peace summit in Kyiv, Zelensky called for US and European support in brokering "a lasting and just peace." He said NATO membership for Ukraine would be on the table, but only time would tell how the discussions "finish," per the BBC. Hopefully there will be a "turning point," he said. (More Volodymyr Zelensky stories.)