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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to step down from his role in exchange for Nato membership.
Zelensky said he was focused on Ukraine’s security now, not in 20 years’ time, adding that it is not his “dream” to remain president for a decade.
“If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready to do that, and I also can exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine,” he said.
He also ruled out a US-Ukraine rare earth minerals deal if it meant Kyiv having to repay the US for military aid already provided over the last three years.
This is despite US president Donald Trump and US officials claiming a deal on the issue was close and would likely be agreed next week.
Trump has demanded preferential access to around $500bn of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals under the agreement as repayment for Washington’s military support under Biden.
Zelensky previously dismissed the idea as “not serious”, saying there was no factual basis for claiming the US was owed $500bn, as well as the deal providing Ukraine with no security guarantees.
On Sunday, Zelensky again refused to acknowledge the $500bn figure and said grants provided by Biden should not now be treated as loans.
Zelensky refuses to acknowledge that Ukraine owes US $500 billion
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he refused to acknowledge that Ukraine owed the US $500 billion for the wartime aid that Washington has provided to Kyiv, a figure often cited by US president Donald Trump.
Zelensky said on Sunday that grants should not be treated as loans.
Tara Cobham24 February 2025 04:00
Starmer to address world leaders to mark Ukraine war anniversary
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to join world leaders in a call hosted by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion as the UK announces toughened measures against the Kremlin.
The prime minister reiterated Britain’s “ironclad” backing for Kyiv in a series of conversations with allies over the weekend as he prepares to make the case for safeguards to protect the country’s sovereignty on his visit to the US this week.
On Monday, which marks three years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion, he is expected to address leaders from the G7 and across Europe as part of a group call in a show of solidarity amid fragile transatlantic relations.
Meanwhile, the Home Office announced a move to widen travel sanctions for Kremlin-linked elites in a bid to heap more pressure on Russia as the war enters its fourth year.
Local and federal politicians as well as managers or directors of large Russian companies will face exclusion from the UK under the rules, which come on top of existing travel bans on high-profile business figures such as Roman Abramovich.
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “Keeping the Ukrainians in their fight and as strong as possible at any negotiating table is critical not only for them, but for the security of the UK.
“These new measures send a powerful message that we will do what it takes to turn the tables on Putin’s aggression.”
The prime minister will seek to position the UK as a bridge between Europe and America on his visit next week as tensions simmer after Mr Trump hit out at Mr Zelensky and White House officials met Kremlin counterparts to discuss ending the war.
He held his second call in three days with the Ukrainian president on Sunday, promising he would be “progressing important discussions” about Kyiv’s security on his visit to Washington.
Shweta Sharma24 February 2025 03:42
US pressures Ukraine to drop its UN resolution demanding Russian forces withdraw
The United States has urged Ukraine to withdraw its European-backed UN resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces in favour of a US-proposed draft that omits any mention of Moscow’s invasion, a US official and a European diplomat said on Sunday.
However, Ukraine has refused to withdraw its resolution, and the UN General Assembly is set to vote on it on Monday, marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, according to two European diplomats.
Following this, the 193-member General Assembly is expected to vote on the US draft resolution, the diplomats and the US official said, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to ongoing private negotiations.
The Trump administration is also pushing for a vote on its proposal in the more influential US Security Council. The 15-member council is scheduled to meet on Ukraine on Monday afternoon, with a vote planned immediately afterward. However, European diplomats indicated that the vote could be postponed to Tuesday at Russia’s request.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio emphasised the urgency of the moment, stating on Friday that “this is the time to commit to ending the war. This is our opportunity to build real momentum toward peace.”
Shweta Sharma24 February 2025 03:07
Zelensky says US troop deployment in Ukraine logical if minerals deal works as security guarantees
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said a US troop deployment in Ukraine is logical if a minerals deal between the countries is treated as security guarantees.
Zelensky also said on Sunday that about $15 billion of previously pledged US military aid was yet to be delivered.
Tara Cobham24 February 2025 03:00
Watch: ‘We are ready to share,’ says Zelensky on resources deal with US in exchange for security
Tara Cobham24 February 2025 02:00
Zelensky says minerals deal cannot work if US asks Ukraine to return money already given
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that a minerals deal with the US could not work if it asked Ukraine to return the value of aid already given by Washington.
Tara Cobham24 February 2025 01:00
Zelensky calls false statements about his ratings and US aid ‘dangerous’
Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said false statements about his ratings and amounts of US aid are dangerous steps to weaken Ukraine.
Tara Cobham24 February 2025 00:00
Ukraine can fight until end of 2025 with European support, Poland says
Ukraine can keep fighting Russia for the rest of the year with European support, Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said.
“Ukraine can fight on its own with our European support for the rest of this year, and I think Putin has to take this into account,” Sikorski told CNN in an interview on Sunday.
Asked if his impression after talking to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was that Ukraine would be offered security guarantees by Washington, Sikorski said the best guarantee for Ukraine was its almost million-man army, resisting Russian aggression.
“If you’d asked me three years ago where Ukraine and Russia would be in this war in three years’ time, I don’t think either of us would have guessed that Russia would only capture 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory,” Sikorski said.
“But if we are to have a durable peace, it has to be one that both sides can live with, above all, the victim of aggression.”
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 23:00
Zelensky says Trump’s team sees ceasefire as end of war
Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he believed US President Donald Trump’s team saw a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia as the end of the war.
Kyiv has long argued that it needs to see a long-term resolution to the war for it to feel secure due to the threat of a renewed Russian attack.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 22:00
US expects mineral deal with Ukraine to be signed this week
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and treasury secretary Scott Bessent have said on Sunday they expected that an agreement would be signed this week on US access to Ukraine’s critical mineral deposits.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wavered “in his commitment towards that a week ago,” Witkoff said in a CNN ‘State of the Union’ interview on Sunday, referring to the Ukrainian leader’s rejection of the original US proposal. “The president [Trump] sent the message to him. He’s not wavering any more.”
Zelensky realised “that we have done so much [for Ukraine] … and I think you’ll see it [the deal] signed this week,” continued Witkoff.
Zelensky had previously rejected US demands for $500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid, saying the US had supplied nowhere near that sum.
“The deal will be signed,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday, adding he was “hopeful” it will happen in the coming week.
The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said on Sunday that the next round of negotiations with the US over a deal will continue.
Tara Cobham23 February 2025 21:00