Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s willing to immediately leave office if it guarantees peace or NATO membership. His remarks come as Donald Trump calls him a “dictator” for not holding elections under martial law.
Meanwhile, reports suggest Ukraine may face pressure to hold elections before any peace deal. Philip Crowther reports from Kyiv.
#Ukraine #Zelensky #NATO #Russia
Meanwhile, reports suggest Ukraine may face pressure to hold elections before any peace deal. Philip Crowther reports from Kyiv.
#Ukraine #Zelensky #NATO #Russia
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00:00These words from President Volodymyr Zelensky coming during his press
00:04conference held here in Kiev on the eve of the three-year anniversary of Russia's
00:09attack on Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky saying literally this that he would trade it
00:15meaning the presidency for NATO in other words he would be willing to leave his
00:21office if Ukraine is guaranteed peace or NATO membership of course peace is
00:27something that Ukrainians desire after three years of all-out war with Russia
00:33NATO membership is something that's also Ukraine wants desperately and would give
00:39it the security guarantees that it so desperately wants in the future so that
00:44Russia does not attack again but NATO membership has been largely discarded by
00:50NATO itself so it's very unlikely that any kind of a deal like this might be
00:56done and speaking of the possibility of a deal it must be said that this has
01:00not been a demand from anybody for Zelensky to leave the presidency it
01:06hasn't been a demand from Moscow though of course the Russians don't like the
01:11figure of Volodymyr Zelensky but it hasn't been a clear demand from them and
01:16it also hasn't been a demand from the United States now I mentioned
01:19Washington because this question comes up I think in the context of President
01:25Donald Trump calling Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator without elections the call
01:30from Donald Trump being this one that Ukraine should be holding elections even
01:36during wartime during martial law here in Ukraine that has been roundly
01:41rejected by Zelensky but I think that might be one of the reasons why this
01:46question has come up in the first place this comes at a crucial moment for
01:50Ukraine obviously with the three-year anniversary coming up tomorrow but also
01:54with the possibility of actual peace negotiations seemingly coming edging
02:00that little bit closer the main reason being the presence of Donald Trump in
02:04the White House because he is the one who said that he could get peace for
02:09Ukraine and Russia within the space of 24 hours he failed to do that but still
02:13seems to be optimistic that he can get these two countries to talk and can come
02:17out of it as the peacemaker essentially but there are some very very strict
02:23demands from both sides for this to happen and they cancel each other out
02:27Ukraine is calling for all of its territory that was already taken over or
02:32annexed by Russia in 2014 to be returned to Ukraine Kiev also wants those
02:38security guarantees meaning it wants maybe troops on the ground certainly the
02:43kind of help military help that means that Russia cannot attack again and also
02:49of course Ukraine would like to be a member country of NATO that is something
02:54that Russia has said very clearly that if there are NATO soldiers on the ground
03:00in Ukraine that would stand in the way of any peace deal now speaking of the
03:04Russian point of view it sounds like the Russian point of view but it comes
03:08tonight from the United States Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Whitcoff
03:12in an interview with CNN he said about this war that the war didn't need to
03:17happen his quote it was provoked that is clearly the point of view from Moscow it
03:23is only Moscow that has said that it was provoked into attacking Ukraine the
03:28United States hasn't said that in the past and neither have any of the US
03:32allies so you're seeing again what are considered Kremlin talking points being
03:36used again by members of the US administration a little bit more context
03:40for you here in Ukraine and that is that the front line obviously is as violent
03:44as ever with very few changes on the ground but small Russian advances and
03:50you mentioned the biggest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war
03:54that was last night and we certainly noticed it here in Kiev and we
03:58certainly heard it as well Philip thank you for that Philip Crowther from the
04:02Associated Press in Kiev