Summary

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated he is willing to resign if it ensures peace or NATO membership for Ukraine.

"If it is peace for Ukraine, and if you really want me to leave my post, I’m ready," he said. "Alternatively, I can trade this for NATO membership... I’m focusing on Ukraine’s security today, not in 20 years."

His comments come amid tensions with Donald Trump, who falsely suggested the Ukrainian president was responsible for starting the war.

Meanwhile, U.S.-Russia negotiations continue without Ukraine, which Zelenskyy firmly rejects. Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of Ukrainian involvement in any peace negotiations.

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[–] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 hour ago

That would be a damn good deal and I'm sure Zelenskyi would be more than happy to sign the papers if there was no doubt of the outcome.

But as of now I'm pretty sure that announcement is mostly just global politics with a hint of fools hope of it actually going trough. He's just stating loud and clear to the world that if it's his (forcefully) prolonged position which is the main issue on the war then he'll happily stand down, but on the terms which are acceptable to the Ukraine.

Heck, after all he's been doing, I wouldn't be surprised if he agreed to go into trial in russia (and sacrifice himself) if it meant lasting peace for Ukraine. It obviously doesn't come to that, it's not really about who's sitting on president office, but in theory I wouldn't be surprised.

[–] Psiczar@aussie.zone 4 points 1 hour ago

Problem is, he can’t get one without the other. Ukraine can’t join NATO while still at war with Russia.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 5 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Wasn't that always the outcome of peace though?

I'm sure he has an idea of how a general election would shape up. Trade for NATO is the only real option.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 2 points 54 minutes ago (1 children)

Ya the moment the war is over, what allows him to remain president ends.

I'm not sure how fast things need to move after that happens though

[–] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 5 points 43 minutes ago (1 children)

what allows him to remain president ends

Strictly speaking, the war is not the (whole) thing which allows him to stay in office. His era continues up to the point when the successor is elected and there can not be legal elections during martial law. So, yeah, the war is the reason, but once the peace is achieved it still requires proper elections (no idea how long that takes in Ukraine as a whole) and then he's released from the office. So even if the peace came tomorrow I think it would take in minimum at least a few months until elections are open. Possibly even more as significant amount of Ukrainians are out of the country right now and they might want to secure option to vote for them too which might take quite a bit longer than few months.

But I have no doubt about it, they'll have fair elections when it's possible, Russia will try to influence the hell out of it and in the end Ukraine has new, fairly elected, president eventually.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 points 28 minutes ago (1 children)

If it's the martial law that is allowing it, would he be forced to end it if the war ends? In that case indicating he'd step down with peace seems like it's more definitive then the war simply needing to end for an election to be possible?

[–] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 1 points 13 minutes ago

would he be forced to end it if the war ends

I don't know about Ukrainian laws, but I'd suppose so. At least that's how martial law works in general, it's not easy to activate and there's written rules on when it has to end. And also I don't think it's the president alone who can decide for that to either way.

But again, I don't really know about their laws, just bits and pieces i've learned from the news. I barely know our own martial laws (or our law in general).

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 7 points 2 hours ago

Maybe lean more into NATO membership, and less into a peace agreement with russia where you have to trust their word.

At least a NATO membership comes with harsh penalties if russia tries it's shit.