Speculation is mounting over whether Volodymyr Zelensky could resign as part of a deal on Ukraine’s future.
The president has defended his still being in office after Donald Trump called him a “dictator” for not calling elections. But Ukraine’s constitutions forbids a poll to take place in wartime.
On Sunday, Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson suggested Zelensky would have to leave office for Ukraine to achieve a peace deal with Russia.
Yesterday, Zelensky announced he would resign on one condition – he is “exchangeable” for Ukrainian membership of NATO. The embattled leader added that this would mean he had fulfilled his “mission”.
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World leaders gathered in London on Sunday to discuss a potential agreement to present to the US on peace in Ukraine.
It came after a blazing public row between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday.
The US President told his counterpart that he was “gambling with World War Three” and he does not “have the cards”.
Zelensky left early, and the signing of a minerals deal between the two countries was postponed.
Trump told him that they could meet again when he was “ready for peace”.
Yesterday, the Ukrainian President told reporters he was “ready to sign” the agreement.
It is understood that the UK and France aim to present a plan to the US after yesterday’s summit.
Today, the UK’s ambassador to the US Lord Mandelson was slapped down by a defence minister for suggesting that Ukraine should commit to a ceasefire before Russia.
Lord Mandelson suggested a “very radical reset” was needed.
He said: “The reset has to consist of the United States and Ukraine getting back on the same page, President Zelensky giving his unequivocal backing to the initiative that President Trump is taking to end the war and to bring a just and lasting peace to Ukraine.
“And the Europeans too, they need to back the calls for a ceasefire, and – by the way – I think that Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow.”
But armed forces minister Luke Pollard has told Sky News: “No. It’s certainly right that Ukrainians want peace. I think of all the people on our continent that want peace, the Ukrainians want it the most.
“But we’re still in discussions, diplomatic engagement with our European, US and Ukrainian friends as to the shape of that deal.
“But it’s certainly right that the war could stop tomorrow if President Putin stopped his illegal and unprovoked aggression. He could stop this war.”
When asked if Lord Mandelson misspoke, he said: “That’s not Government policy.”
