Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is willing to depart in exchange for a fair peace in Ukraine and a NATO membership, Reuters reports with reference to a statement at a press conference.
– I think you should see it as an expression that he is investing a lot on a peace that makes Ukraine survive. Should it mean that someone else takes over as president, I think he is ready to make that sacrifice, Carl Bildt tells TV4 News.
Zelenskyjs says that his main focus is on Ukraine’s security here and now, not in 20 years. He also adds that it is not his “highest dream” to be president for a decade.
The president says he is grateful for the support of both the bid and trump administrations, but that he now wants both understanding and security guarantees from Donald Trump. Zelenskyj also expresses a dissatisfaction that Trump would be the only Western mediator for a peace in Ukraine.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyj holds a press conference in Kyiv.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyj holds a press conference in Kyiv.
Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/TT
Opens up for metal calls
Zelenskyj also opens up new conversations on the issue of the country’s rare earth metals, which the United States has demanded to break as a thank you for the great US aid to Ukraine. Zelenskyj has previously refused to sign the agreement with the United States, which would also give the country the right to 50 percent of the current value of mineral resources – about $ 500 billion.
But now the Ukrainian president says he is “ready to discuss the mineral issue” in exchange for the United States getting Putin to end the war. At the same time, Zelenskyj is clear that he does not agree that Ukraine is guilty the United States so much money.
“The agreement means that Ukraine will give back two dollars for every dollar we have received,” he says.
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Analysis: “He puts the nation before the person”
“Assumes we help him”
Sweden’s former Prime Minister Carl Bildt believes that Zelenskyj’s statement is a way for him to show that he really wants to achieve something.
– But it also assumes that we help him preserve a free and peaceful Ukraine, says Bildt, who is currently on his way to Kiev for the anniversary of Russia’s full -scale invasion.
– The leaders of the important European countries, Sweden belong to them, must sit down and develop a long -term plan for how to support Ukraine so that they can withstand both Russian and American pressure attempts.
What will happen on the American front next?
– Nobody knows. I see no signs that Americans have a coordinated plan or politics. However, the Russians probably have it, unfortunately, says Carl Bildt.
Photo: Christine Olsson / TT (Archive)