Zelensky says he'd step down 'if it brings peace'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that he would step down from the presidency if it meant achieving a lasting peace in Ukraine.

“If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I’m ready,” Zelensky said in remarks in Kyiv, speaking at a government forum marking three years since Russia launched its invasion of his country.

He suggested NATO membership would need to be on the table.

Asked whether he’d trade his office for peace, Zelensky told a journalist, “I can trade it for NATO.”

Zelensky’s remarks come days after President Trump called the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” who was doing a “terrible job.” Ukrainian law prevents elections when under martial law, as the country currently is.

It also comes as the Trump administration has largely cut Ukraine and Europe out of initial talks with Russia to end the war. As Trump's rhetoric about the war has increasingly echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky accused him last week of living in a "web of disinformation."

Zelensky continues to have majority support in Ukraine, according to the latest polling, contrary to Trump's claim last week that he had 4 percent approval rating — although he is not as popular as he was earlier in the war.

Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have long pushed for inclusion in NATO as the strongest defense against future Russian invasions. However, the Biden administration delayed any decision on that front, and the Trump administration has indicated its opposition to Ukraine joining the alliance.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels nearly two weeks ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said NATO membership is not “realistic” and indicated Washington would no longer prioritize European and Ukrainian security.

“The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,” Hegseth said, adding U.S. troops will not be involved in securing a postwar Kyiv.

The Associated Press contributed.

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