WASHINGTON () Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to immediately resign his office if doing so would bring lasting peace to his country – or enable NATO membership. 

“If it’s about peace in Ukraine, and you really want me to leave my position – I am ready to do that,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a press conference in Kyiv on Sunday. “Secondly, I can exchange it for NATO [membership].” 

“If there is such an opportunity, I’ll do it immediately without a long conversation about it,” Zelenskyy added.  

The Ukrainian president’s potential concession came as President Donald Trump questioned his legitimacy and branded him a “dictator without elections” for staying in power after his five-year term expired in May 2024. Ukraine’s constitution prohibits national elections during martial law, which has been in place since the Russian invasion of February 2022. 

Zelenskyy was first elected president in 2019, winning roughly 75 percent of the vote in a runoff against incumbent Petro Poroshenko. 

When asked about Trump’s comments on Sunday, Zelenskyy claimed he was not offended by it.

“I certainly would not describe the words Trump used as a compliment,” Zelensky said. “One would be offended by the word dictator if he was a dictator. I’m not. I’m the legally elected president.” 

The wartime leader has been embroiled in a public rift with Trump, as Washington seeks revenue from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as a form of repayment for the hundreds of billions of dollars of American aid.  

“I’m trying to get the money back or secured,” Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday. “We’re going to get our money back because it’s not fair, it’s just not fair. And we will see, but I think we’re pretty close to a deal.” 

As of now, the fate of the deal remains uncertain as Zelenskyy declined to sign the latest proposal while also pushing back on Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine owes the U.S. $500 billion. 

It is unclear where Trump got that figure, and most assessments of U.S. aid put it at a fraction of the number he cited.  

Last Wednesday, Zelenskyy protested: “You can’t call this 500 billion and ask us to return 500 billion in minerals or something else. This is not a serious conversation.”  

“I am not signing something that will be paid by ten generations of Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy doubled down on Sunday, noting that the U.S. and Ukraine remain locked in negotiations.  

In terms of NATO, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ruled out the prospect of Kyiv joining the mutual-defense alliance earlier this month, calling it an “unrealistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.” 

Overnight, Russia launched a record 267 drones into Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Air Force, as both countries prepare to mark three years since Moscow’s initial assault.