{"id":127637,"date":"2025-02-23T22:28:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T22:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-zelensky-willing-to-give-up-presidency-for-peace-and-nato-membership-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-02-23T22:28:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T22:28:45","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-zelensky-willing-to-give-up-presidency-for-peace-and-nato-membership-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-zelensky-willing-to-give-up-presidency-for-peace-and-nato-membership-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky willing to give up presidency for peace and Nato membership – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ukrainian president also rules out US-Ukraine minerals deal if it meant repaying Washington for military aid already provided under Biden
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> has said he is willing to step down from his role in exchange for Nato<\/a> membership.
Zelensky said he was focused on Ukraine<\/a>‘s security now, not in 20 years’ time<\/a>, adding that it is not his “dream” to remain president for a decade.
“If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready to do that, and I also can exchange it for Nato<\/a> membership for Ukraine<\/a>,\u201d he said.
He also ruled out a US<\/a>–Ukraine<\/a> rare earth minerals deal if it meant Kyiv<\/a> having to repay the US<\/a> for military aid already provided over the last three years.
This is despite US<\/a> president Donald Trump<\/a> and US<\/a> officials claiming a deal on the issue was close and would likely be agreed next week.
Trump<\/a> has demanded preferential access<\/a> to around $500bn of Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s rare earth minerals under the agreement as repayment for Washington<\/a>\u2019s military support under Biden.
Zelensky previously dismissed the idea as \u201cnot serious\u201d, saying there was no factual basis for claiming the US<\/a> was owed $500bn, as well as the deal providing Ukraine<\/a> with no security guarantees.
Today, Zelensky again refused to acknowledge the $500bn figure and said grants provided by Biden should not now be treated as loans.
Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he believed US President Donald Trump’s team saw a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia as the end of the war.
Kyiv has long argued that it needs to see a long-term resolution to the war for it to feel secure due to the threat of a renewed Russian attack.
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and treasury secretary Scott Bessent have said on Sunday they expected that an agreement would be signed this week on US access to Ukraine’s critical mineral deposits.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wavered “in his commitment towards that a week ago,” Witkoff said in a CNN<\/em> ‘State of the Union’ interview on Sunday, referring to the Ukrainian leader’s rejection of the original US proposal. “The president [Trump] sent the message to him. He’s not wavering any more.”
Zelensky realised “that we have done so much [for Ukraine] … and I think you’ll see it [the deal] signed this week,” continued Witkoff.
Zelensky had previously rejected US demands for $500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid, saying the US had supplied nowhere near that sum.
“The deal will be signed,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox News <\/em>on Sunday, adding he was “hopeful” it will happen in the coming week.
The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said on Sunday that the next round of negotiations with the US over a deal will continue.
Sir Keir Starmer and the Nato secretary-general agreed there could be “no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine” in a call on Sunday evening.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister spoke with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte this evening.
“Ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Prime Minister began by underscoring that Ukraine must be in the strongest position possible.
“The leaders agreed that there could be no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine. They agreed it was important for Europe to step up in order to ensure European security.
“The Prime Minister said he would continue to have these vital discussions with international partners, including during his visit to Washington DC.
“They agreed to speak soon.”
None of us will ever forget where we were on that grim morning three years ago when Vladimir Putin began his full-scale invasion<\/a> of Ukraine<\/a>. As footage of missile strikes raining down on Ukrainian cities played on screens, it felt at times as if Putin<\/a> might have struck a decisive blow not just against Ukraine, but against the democratic values we share with our Ukrainian friends.
It felt like a weak and divided West \u2013 still reeling from the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan months prior, and, in the case of Europe, still addicted to cheap Russian gas \u2013 would struggle to unite and provide Ukrainians with the support they needed.
But Putin underestimated the deep strength of the ideals that we share with our allies, including Ukraine, and the power of those fundamental values: democracy<\/a>, truth, and liberty. We were able to come together and enable brave Ukrainians to repel Putin\u2019s advances, and even to reclaim some of their territory.
Read more here:<\/strong>
The Trump administration reportedly threatened to cut off Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s access to Starlink<\/a>, which has been a lifeline in providing internet access to the country during the war with Russia,<\/a> during negotiations over access to valuable minerals.
Keith Kellog, the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, raised the prospect this week of turning off service to Starlink if the two countries don\u2019t strike a deal over crucial minerals, an unnamed source told Reuters.<\/a>
Read more here.<\/em><\/strong>
The Ukrainian intelligence soldier doesn\u2019t know how long his clinical death lasted after an explosive detonated beneath him.
All Andrii Rubliuk remembers is overwhelming cold, darkness and fear. When he regained consciousness in his shattered body \u2014 missing both arms and his left leg \u2014 excruciating pain engulfed him, and hallucinations clouded his mind.
\u201cIt\u2019s an experience you wouldn\u2019t wish on anyone,\u201d the now 38-year-old says.
Two years later, Rubliuk is again dressed in military fatigues, his missing limbs replaced by prosthetics \u2014 hooks in place of fingers, one leg firmly planted on an artificial limb.
Read more here:<\/em><\/strong>
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded to Russia\u2019s largest drone attack of the war so far on social media.
He said that the attack “demonstrates that avoiding calling Russia an aggressor does not change the fact that it is one”.
“No one should trust Putin’s words. Look at his actions instead,” Mr Sybiha said in a statement on social media.
The top figure in Eastern Orthodox Christianity on Sunday declared that \u201cUkraine\u2019s sovereignty is not up for debate, nor can it be negotiated under the guise of diplomacy,\u201d as he celebrated Mass<\/a> in Istanbul<\/a> on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia<\/a>‘s war in Ukraine<\/a>.
Read more here:<\/em><\/strong>
Ahead of the third anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv reported Putin\u2019s troops had launched their largest drone attack of the war so far.
Russian forces fired 267 drones<\/strong> at Ukraine in an overnight attack, striking five regions of Ukraine, Kyiv said.
Around 138 of the drones were downed<\/strong> and another 119 were jammed by electronic warfare<\/strong>, the air force said.
The largest drone strike reported before this was in November 2024, when 188 drones were fired<\/strong> at Ukrainian towns and cities.
One person was killed<\/strong> in the city of Kryvyi Rih, according to the city military administration
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he sees Turkey as an important security guarantor for Ukraine.
Zelenskiy was speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on Sunday.
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