Zelensky said he was ready to leave office in exchange for Ukraine's NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he is ready to leave his post if the country joins NATO and the armed conflict ends with a peace agreement. He said this during a press conference on February 23.

"If for peace in Ukraine, it is necessary for me to leave my post - I am ready. The second story, we can swap for [joining] NATO, if there are such conditions, at least immediately, so as not to delay for a long time," the Ukrainian leader said.

He added that his goal is to ensure Ukraine's security now, not for the prospect of 20 years.

"I do not aspire to be in power for decades. Therefore, this is probably my top priority and cherished dream," Zelensky summarized.

Also, the Ukrainian president said that the country does not intend to recognize its debt to Washington, neither the $500 billion, as stated by US President Donald Trump, nor the $100 billion that Kiev has received, according to the Ukrainian authorities' estimate.

"We cannot recognize grants as debts. I negotiated with [previous US President Joe] Biden, I negotiated with the [US] Congress. Two sides were present. You may not like it, but that was the agreement. It was a grant. We do not recognize that this is a debt," the Ukrainian leader pointed out.

Trump quarrels with Zelensky, Europe distances itself from the U.S. What you need to know

On February 19, the US President said that Zelensky "did a terrible job", which resulted in the destruction of his country and the deaths of "millions of people" in vain. At the same time, Trump pointed to the need to hold elections in Ukraine in order to earn a seat at the negotiating table to settle the Ukrainian conflict.

At the same time, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, suggested that Zelensky was ready for any provocation to disrupt the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. According to him, the Ukrainian president is now in a difficult situation and his behavior can be absolutely "unpredictable".

Before that, on 3 February, an analyst of the Hungarian Center for Fundamental Rights, Zoltan Koshkovych, said that Zelensky should give up his post and give way to a new leader after the words of US special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg about the need for elections in the state.