INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukraine&s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he was willing to give up his position if it meant peace in Ukraine, adding that he
could exchange his departure for his country&s entry into the NATO military alliance, Reuters reported.If (it means) peace for Ukraine, if
you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,& an irritated-looking Zelenskiy said when asked during a press conference whether he was
ready to leave his post if it meant securing peace.I can exchange this for NATO (membership), if that condition is there, immediately,& the
president added.United States President Donald Trump has pushed for elections to take place in Ukraine, having branded Zelenskiy a
&dictator&, an apparent reference to the Ukrainian leader&s official five-year term running out in 2024
Russia has cited this in the past to assert that he is an illegitimate leader, read the report.Ukrainian legislation prohibits holding
elections during a state of martial law, which Ukraine declared the day Russia invaded in February 2022
Trump also falsely claimed that Zelenskiy has an approval rating of four percent.I am not going to be in power for decades, but we will not
allow Putin to be in power over the territories of Ukraine either,& Zelenskiy said on Sunday, referring to Russian President Vladimir
Putin.A poll released this week put Zelenskiy&s approval ratings at 63%, and he made reference to this when talking about Trump&s claims on
Sunday, calling his false statements &dangerous&.I believe it&s not a mistake, it&s misinformation that has an impact,& Zelenskiy
said.Zelenskiy said earlier this week Trump was in a &disinformation bubble&, angering the United States President and his team
On Sunday, he sought to justify the earlier comments.&(The information) about four percent of Ukrainians supporting me is one of the signals
spread by the Russians, that&s why I said it was a disinformation attack, I didn''t say it was President Trump,& Zelenskiy said on
Sunday.Trump&s criticism of Zelenskiy came as relations between the two leaders deteriorated sharply in recent weeks.Zelenskiy opposes the
idea of elections in a full-scale war, a position backed by his major domestic political opponents.The Ukrainian president also said he
wanted to see Trump as a partner for Ukraine and more than a simply a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.I really want it to be more than just
mediation… that&s not enough,& he told a press conference in Kyiv.Trump has said Ukraine should give the United States $500 billion in
critical raw materials as payback for aid which Kyiv has already received from the previous Joe Biden administration.Zelenskiy declined to
sign a detailed United States proposal last week that would have seen Washington receiving 50% of Ukraine&s critical minerals, which
include graphite, uranium, titanium and lithium, the latter a key component in electric car batteries, Reuters reported.He has said he wants
to do a deal, but that it should offer security guarantees for Ukraine in return.On Friday, he said United States and Ukrainian teams were
working on a deal and Trump said he expects a deal will be signed soon.On Sunday, Zelenskiy said at the press conference that he rejected
the idea that Ukraine owed the United States $500 billion.There cannot be (any) format which makes us debtors for the old (aid
given).Zelenskiy said earlier this week that Washington had supplied his country with $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in direct
budget support throughout the nearly three-year war with Russia.I will not sign what 10 generations of Ukrainians will be repaying,&
Zelenskiy said of the minerals deal.Ukraine&s economy minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on Sunday the 18% of Ukraine under Russian occupation
contained about $350 billion of critical raw materials, adding that Ukraine is conducting additional geological research to update
decades-old information, read the report.The president&s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Sunday that he had held constructive new
talks with senior United States officials on a deal to develop Ukrainian minerals.We are moving forward with our work
This was a constructive discussion,& Yermak wrote on Telegram.The post Zelenskiy says he is willing to quit presidency if it means peace in
Ukraine first appeared on Ariana News.
