“I’m Ready to Resign for Ukraine’s NATO Membership” – Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that he is prepared to step down if his resignation would secure NATO membership for Ukraine and bring peace to his war-torn country.
“If [it guarantees] peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to resign, I am ready,” Zelensky declared at a press conference. “I can exchange it for NATO.”
His remarks come amid heightened tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently accused Ukraine of starting the war before later acknowledging, “Russia attacked.” Trump went on to blame President Joe Biden and Zelensky for failing to prevent the conflict.
In response, Zelensky accused Trump of being trapped in a “disinformation space,” prompting the Republican leader to label him a “dictator.” The exchange has added strain to U.S.-Ukraine relations at a critical point in the war.
Still, Zelensky insisted that his approach to Trump is “pragmatic.”
“There is no space for emotions here,” he said. “Obviously, I would not say President Trump’s words about me are compliments, to say the least.”
Meanwhile, Russia launched a record-breaking drone attack overnight, sending 267 drones into Ukraine and killing at least one person. The assault came on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Zelensky further stressed that Ukraine joining NATO would be the “simplest and most logical solution” to prevent Russia from attacking his country in the future.
“NATO is the most cost-effective option for preventing another war,” the Ukrainian President wrote on X on Sunday.
“If Ukraine does not join NATO, we will have to create NATO within Ukraine, which means maintaining an army strong enough to repel aggression, financing it, producing and storing enough of our own weapons, and negotiating with our partners about their participation to deter Russia from starting another war,” he wrote.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, sparking a three-year war that has killed more than 12,000 civilians and displaced at least 3.7 million people within the country.
