KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would resign if that meant peace for his country, and added that he would also mean that Ukraine would be granted the NATO membership.
Zelenskyy made the comments on Sunday in response to a question from the ABC News foreign correspondent, Ian Pannelll, during a press conference in kyiv, a day before the third anniversary of the large -scale invasion of Russia.
“If for peace for Ukraine, it is really necessary for you to leave my publication, I am ready,” Zelenskyy replied to Pannell asking if I was prepared to quit if I could help peace. “We can change it for the NATO membership. If those are the terms, then let’s do it without delay. I am focused on the security of Ukraine today, not in 20 years, and I have no intention of remaining in power for a decade. This. It is my approach and my greatest aspiration. “
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, answers the media questions during his press conference, in kyiv, Ukraine, on February 23, 2025.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Zelenskyy’s comments occur after President Donald Trump accused him of being a “dictator without elections” and presented it as an obstacle to finishing the war in Ukraine, saying last week after the United States conversations in Arabia Saudi that Zelenskyy “moves better fast or is not going to have a country that is left.”
Trump has triggered a public breakdown in relations with Zelenskyy last week, since he has changed to falsely blame Ukraine for war (Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022) and restoring US relations with Russia. In particular, conversations in Saudia Arabia last week did not include Ukraine.
The Trump administration is also pressing Zelenskyy, demanding that he signed an agreement that would make Ukraine pay the United States $ 500 billion through a fund, financed by receiving 50% of the income of the natural resources of Ukraine, including Minerals, oil and gas, – – also ports and other infrastructure. Trump has submitted the agreement as a subsequent payment for the help that the United States has already provided to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has so far refused to sign an agreement because it does not offer guarantees and because it says that the amount required by Trump is five times more than what the United States has given since 2022 (the Kiel Institute for the world economy, based in Germany, Germany, He estimates that the United States has committed around $ 119 billion in help for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022. This figure combines military, financial and humanitarian assistance).
At the press conference on Sunday, Zelenskyy said he was not willing to accept to pay $ 500 billion, saying that Ukraine received $ 100 billion in help from the United States, Zelenskyy also criticized the terms, noting that the draft agreement would make that Ukraine paid $ 2 for each dollar given to it.
“I just want a dialogue with President Trump. I think it’s fair. I am not signing in something that future Ukrainian generations will have to pay for the next 10 Generations, “he said.
A senior Ukrainian official told ABC News on Saturday that Ukraine had proposed to pay $ 100 billion to the United States, but Zelenskyy on Sunday said he was uncomfortable with that, pointing out that money had been granted to Ukraine as an approved subsidy to Through a bipartisan agreement in Congress, not as a loan to be returned with interest.
Zelenskyy said his personnel boss, Andriy Yermak, was currently negotiating again with the Trump administration, including national security advisor Mike Waltz, and that the $ 500 billion figure was no longer being discussed in the conversations. “We are progressing,” he said on Sunday.
Zelenskyy also repeated that he believes that the NATO membership for Ukraine remains the most “profitable” solution for Ukraine security, insisting that the country must have security guarantees so that any peace agreement is acceptable and lasting.
Trump’s officials on Sunday were pressing Ukraine to withdraw an annual United Nations Draft resolution that condemns the 2022 invasion of Russia and replaces it with a statement sponsored by the United States that does not assign responsibility for war, According to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine so far has refused to withdraw the resolution.
Until now, Trump, pressing for the end of the war, has directed the pressure only to Ukraine, demanding that he make concessions while it seems to demand little from Russia, except that he stops fighting.
“What do I want from Donald Trump? I think that if we trust what he says, it is the same: a rapid end for war. At this point, we totally agree. I really think he wants this and will help us achieve,” Zelenskyy said .
“But ‘Peace through force’ means focusing that force against Russia. I think this is the essence of the phrase. I want it on our side. I don’t think that simple mediation is sufficient. We need safety guarantees of states United, “said Zelenskyy, who also expressed his gratitude for bipartisan support to Ukraine in Congress.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine needs lasting security, saying that even if Trump can deter Putin now, he will not always be there. “He [Trump] It is not forever, and we need peace for many, many years, “said Zelenskyy.
David Brennan of ABC News contributed to this report.
