KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said for the first time on Sunday that he would be willing to resign from his post in exchange for peace in Ukraine or NATO membership.

“If it is peace for Ukraine, and if you really want me to leave my post, I’m ready,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv. “Alternatively, I can trade this for NATO membership, if such conditions exist, immediately, so we don’t have lengthy discussions. I’m focusing on Ukraine’s security today, not in 20 years. And I don’t intend to stay in power for decades.”

The offer would represent a significant personal concession for Zelenskyy in exchange for what he sees as imperative security guarantees for Ukraine.

It followed social media posts last week from President Donald Trump in which the president repeated a number of inaccuracies such as that the democratically-elected Ukrainian leader is a "dictator" and that he talked the U.S. into spending $350 billion on military aid.

That public spat also included Trump suggesting that Zelenskyy was responsible for starting the war. In reality, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, initiating the current land war.

Those allegations saw Trump echo criticism from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for all but four of the past 25 years via elections widely considered illegitimate but has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Zelenskyy’s continuing leadership.

Ukraine last held a presidential election in 2019...

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