UKRAINE'S President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would be ready to give up the presidency if it brought peace and Nato membership.
Speaking at a forum of government officials in Kyiv marking the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said he would step down if doing so would achieve a lasting peace for his country under the security umbrella of the Nato military alliance.
“If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I’m ready,” Zelenskyy said in response to a journalist’s question on whether he’d trade his office for peace.
“I can trade it for Nato.”
Zelenskyy’s comment appeared to be aimed at recent suggestions by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that elections should be held in Ukraine despite Ukrainian legislation prohibiting them during martial law.
It comes after Russia launched more strike drones into Ukraine overnight on Saturday than in any other single attack of the war, one day before the three-year anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Writing on social media, Zelenskyy said 267 strike drones had been sent in what he called “the largest attack since Iranian drones began hitting Ukrainian cities and villages”.
Ukraine’s air force said 138 drones had been shot down over 13 Ukrainian regions, with 119 more lost en route to their targets.
Three ballistic missiles had also been fired, the air force said. One person was killed in a missile strike on the city of Kryvyi Rih, according to the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration.
Meanwhile Putin, in a special televised message on Sunday, praised Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine for defending “their native land, the national interests and the future of Russia”.
Putin’s speech marked Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day, which falls a day before the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
He used the holiday greeting to pledge greater social support for military personnel and new weapons and equipment for Russian forces.
