Zelensky offers to resign as Ukraine’s president...

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to step down as president of Ukraine in exchange for securing a membership to Nato in his latest attempt to end Russia’s three-year bloodshed.

Image Credit: Metro [epa11918443 A handout photo released by the press service of the State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine shows rescuers working at the site of a Russian air strike in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, 23 February 2025, amid the Russian invasion. Russia launched a large-scale drone attack across Ukraine overnight, with Ukrainian President Zelensky stating that '267 attack drones' were deployed, marking 'the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages'. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE HANDOUT -- BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE -- MANDATORY CREDIT: STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE -- HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES]

‘Yes, I am happy, if it is for the peace of Ukraine,’ said the leader, who was democratically elected in May 2019. ‘If you need me to leave this chair, then I am ready to do that. I also can exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine.’. It comes after Donald Trump called Zelensky a ‘dictator without elections’ earlier in the week, all the while cozying up to Vladimir Putin who has been in power in Russia for 25 years.

Image Credit: Metro [epa11918446 A handout photo released by the press service of the State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine shows rescuers extinguishing a fire after Russian air strikes in Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia region, southeastern Ukraine, 23 February 2025, amid the Russian invasion. Russia launched a large-scale drone attack across Ukraine overnight, with Ukrainian President Zelensky stating that '267 attack drones' were deployed, marking 'the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages'. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE HANDOUT -- BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE -- MANDATORY CREDIT: STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE -- HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES]

Talks about Ukraine’s long-delayed elections have only ramped up since the start of the year despite the ongoing martial law prohibiting them. Zelensky added: ‘I mean, how would you recognize 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 are 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?”.

His five-year term in office was supposed to end last year on May 20, but his office has repeatedly stressed that it will not hold elections until the war is over. It is also unclear if the 47-year-old would actually stand for a second term in office.

He told the press conference earlier today: ‘I am focusing on security today and not in 20 years time. I don’t plan to be in power for 10 years.’. According to a February survey, 69% of Ukrainians believe that Zelensky should remain in office until the next elections can be held after the end of martial law.

Several opposition politicians also supported this position, warning against Russian attempts to use the elections to divide Ukrainian society. At the same event, the president again refused to acknowledge claims made by Trump that the US was owed $500 billion, as well as the deal providing Ukraine with no security guarantees.

Zelensky stressed: ‘I am unwilling to acknowledge even $100 billion [in debt] because a grant is not a debt. ‘I negotiated this with Biden. There is an agreement that this is a grant. We do not recognize this as debt.’. He also confirmed that he will not sign a deal, surrendering half of Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth to the Trump administration that would saddle ’10 generations of Ukrainians’ with debt.

Earlier on Sunday, the leader said Russia launched 267 strike drones into Ukraine overnight on Saturday, more than in any other single attack of the war. Ukraine’s air force said 138 drones had been shot down over 13 Ukrainian regions, with 119 more lost en route to their targets.

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