The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to give up his position in exchange for peace and membership in NATO, since his country, whom he was called as the largest Russian drone attack, has been hit with which he had been confronted since the beginning of the war.
Zelenskyy made the offer on Sunday in a press conference in Kyiv when the tear between itself and the new government in the United States, led by President Donald Trump, on the eve of the three -year anniversary of the beginning of the Russia, was expanded to take war against Ukraine.
“If (it means) peace for Ukraine, if you really have to leave my contribution, I am ready,” said Zelenskyy. “I can exchange this for NATO (membership) if this condition is immediately available.”
In a strong change in the previous US government of President Joe Biden, who strongly supported Zelenskyy and Ukraine, Trump has increasingly attacked the Ukrainian President since he took office last month. Last week Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” that had little support from the Ukrainians. After the Ukrainian leader said, he made these comments that Trump worked in a “disinformation room” after the US President had expressed the views of Russia about the war.
But Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he wanted the US President more of a partner than just a mediator.
“I really want it to be more than just mediation. … that’s not enough, ”said Zelenskyy and added that he wanted to meet Trump before a meeting between the US leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The United States seems to support their support for Ukraine, which depend on a deal for the minerals of the rare earths of the latter. Washington initially called for 50 percent ownership of the minerals in return for the continued support of Kyiv.
Ukraine stated that a deal could be negotiated, but Zelenskyy declined on Sunday that his country owed $ 500 billion to the USA. The Ukrainian president said that the specified money was in the form of grants, not on loans and should not be bound to a mineral agreement.
US officials said on Sunday that they expected a deal to be signed soon.
The Trump sent Steve Witkoff said that Zelenskyy “pretended to” fluctuate “in his commitment to (US access to Ukrainian minerals) a week ago, but that he” no longer fluctuated “according to a message from Trump. Witkoff predicted that a deal would be signed this week.
Finance Minister Scott Bessent also said that the deal would be signed and he was “hopeful” that it would happen this week.
All of this comes against the background of the rapprochement between Trump and Putin and the direct dialogue between Moscow and Washington in the past few weeks to end the war, including a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The Russian deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Sunday that Russian and American teams were planning to meet this week to discuss how relationships could be improved.
“We are waiting for real progress when the meeting for the end of the coming week takes place,” Ryabkov was cited by the TASS state news agency.
Ukraine is not involved in the talks between Russia and the USA and leads Zelenskyy to emphasize that an agreement via Ukraine is not possible at the table without Ukrainians.
Bigest drone attack
Zelenskyy previously said that Russia had carried out the biggest drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the war and that 267 drones against his country had started overnight.
Zelenskyy wrote on social media and said that last week Russia launched almost 1,150 attack drones, more than 1,400 led air bombs and 35 missiles in Ukraine.
“Every day our people stand against air shakers,” said Zelenskyy when he asked Europe and the USA to stand with Ukraine.
The spokesman for the Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, said that the drones that started from Saturday evening to early Sunday 138 were intercepted by air defendants, while 119 was lost without causing damage.
He said the 267 drones that were discovered in the Ukrainian sky were “a record for a single attack” since Russia’s invasion of Russia.
A separate explanation of the Ukrainian armed forces on telegram on Sunday states that several regions, including the Ukraine capital Kyiv, were “met”.
On Saturday, a Russian rocket attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rih killed a man and wounded five people, the regional authorities said.
“The war continues. Anyone who is able to help with air defense must work to improve the protection of human life. We have to do everything we can to bring Ukraine permanently and only peace, ”said Zelenskyy.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. Russian armed forces and their allies have been fighting in Eastern Ukraine since 2014, and Russia annexed in the same year, although this was not recognized internationally.
Imran Khan von Al Jazeera from Kyiv said that the Ukrainians describe the Russian drone attacks as “state -funded terrorism”.
“It is actually scary for civilians to get into these attacks, even if they are successfully intercepted,” he said.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has tried to disturb Russian logistics far away from the front to prevent daily strikes, especially through direct attack by military bases and industrial sites in Russia itself.
