Zelenskyy says ready to quit as president in exchange for Ukrainian NATO membership

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he would “immediately” quit as Ukraine’s president in exchange for the country gaining NATO membership.

“If there is peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready. ... I can exchange it for NATO,” Zelenskyy told a press conference in Kyiv, adding he would depart “immediately” if necessary.

Zelenskyy said he wants US President Donald Trump to “understand” his position and come through with concrete security guarantees to help Kyiv defend itself against the Russian invasion.

“I want very much from Trump understanding of each other,” he said, adding: “Security guarantees from Trump are much needed.”

Zelenskyy said he hoped meetings with visiting foreign leaders on Monday – the third anniversary of the Russian invasion – would mark a “turning point.”

“We have an important meeting tomorrow, a summit. Maybe it will be a turning point, we’ll see. We will have 13 leaders offline. There will also be 24 leaders online,” he said.

Zelenskyy said Kyiv and Washington were nearer to an agreement on US access to Ukrainian natural resources in exchange for security assistance.

“We are making progress,” he said, adding that Ukrainian and US officials had been in touch about the deal earlier in the day.

Zelenskyy said he refused to acknowledge that Ukraine owed the US $500 billion for the wartime aid which Washington has provided to Kyiv, a figure often cited by Trump.

Zelenskyy said that grants should not be treated as loans.