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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[–] Sunshine@sopuli.xyz 1 points 25 minutes ago* (last edited 24 minutes ago)

The image of Zelenskyy literally looks like:

[–] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 13 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 hours ago

Yeah it's more about calling Putin/Trump's bluff than anything else. We all know they don't give a shit about democracy in Ukraine, Trump is just using the "dictator" rhetoric to appeal to his base. But that argument is gone now, so now Trump has to come up with a new lie to explain why he's doing whatever Putin is telling him to do.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 10 points 6 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.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 7 points 6 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 1 points 4 hours ago (2 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 7 points 4 hours 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 4 hours ago (2 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?

[–] rockerface@lemm.ee 1 points 46 minutes ago

I'm fairly sure, by our laws, the president can only leave his post six months after the martial law ends. That way, we have time to prepare for the actual elections that everyone can participate in.

[–] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 hours 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 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not sure that's true. I can't speak for Ukrainians, but I would think they'd see him as a national hero, and elect him president for life. That being said, I have no idea how feasible that is. I don't know if Ukraine has term limits, or if him winning the war would guarentee him winning their next election.

But if I were Ukrainian, I'd elect him every single election.

[–] rockerface@lemm.ee 1 points 47 minutes ago

As a Ukrainian, respectfully fuck the entire idea of presidency for life. That's how you get putin.

Zelenskyy is doing a great job holding our shit together, but make no mistakes, if there was no war, he would have very likely not been a president for almost a year now.

[–] Psiczar@aussie.zone 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 hours ago

Ukraine joining NATO could be part of a peace agreement though.