Ukrainian leader says he will resign if Kyiv is granted membership of NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a minerals deal with the United States is “ready” to be signed despite his public bust-up with US President Donald Trump.
Speaking to journalists after a pivotal summit with European leaders in London on Sunday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to go forward with the agreement, which fell through following a public clash with Trump on Friday.
“It is our policy to continue despite what happened in the past. We are constructive. If we agreed upon signing it, we were ready to sign it. And honestly, I believe that the United States is ready as well,” Zelenskyy told a group of reporters at London Stansted airport via a translator.
“Perhaps there is a need in time to analyse certain things, but I just want the Ukrainian position to be heard. It was very important to me that the Ukrainian position is heard.”
Zelenskyy expressed confidence that relations with Trump could be salvaged and that his administration would not cut off assistance to Kyiv.
“I think our relations will continue. Because this is more than relations at a certain moment,” the Ukrainian leader said.
“We must be open. Ukraine is not the biggest country in the world but everyone can see how it fights for its independence and freedom.”
“We count on assistance from the United States without a doubt,” he added.
“I think stopping such assistance will only help Putin. And because of that, I think the United States and representatives of the civilised world, leaders of this world definitely won’t help Putin.”
Zelenskyy’s remarks came at the end of a two-day visit to the United Kingdom, during which European leaders sought to present a united front in support of Ukraine and salvage efforts to bring an end to its war with Russia.
At a landmark summit in London, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his country and France would gather a “coalition of the willing” to draw up a peace plan to present to Trump.
“We are at a crossroads in history today,” Starmer said, calling on his European counterparts to step up to a “once-in-a-generation moment” for the security of the continent.
“This is not a moment for more talk. It’s time to act. Time to step up and lead and to unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace.”
The Trump administration’s proposal to jointly exploit Ukraine’s natural resources as part of a broader deal to end the war collapsed in spectacular fashion on Friday during a televised meeting between Zelenskyy and the US president at the White House.
After Zelenskyy challenged US Vice President JD Vance for saying that diplomacy was needed after former US President Joe Biden’s administration had failed to achieve peace, Trump and Vance castigated the Ukrainian leader for not being sufficiently grateful for US support and overestimating his bargaining position.
Following the exchange, Trump cancelled the rest of Zelenskyy’s visit, including a signing ceremony for the minerals deal, and said the Ukrainian leader could return when “he is ready” for peace.
Several Republican lawmakers, including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, suggested that Zelenskyy should resign if he could not negotiate with Trump.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy rejected Republicans’ calls for him to consider his position as “undemocratic” but said he would step down if Ukraine was granted membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“Then it means I have fulfilled my mission,” he said.