Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pledge to step down if Ukraine joins NATO overshadowed discussions of a stalled minerals agreement during his remarks at Stansted airport Sunday, following two days of solidarity meetings with European allies.
“Then it means I have fulfilled my mission,” Zelenskyy said when discussing NATO membership as a condition for his resignation, while firmly rejecting Republican US lawmakers’ suggestions he should consider leaving office if unable to work with President Donald Trump.
European leaders gathered for what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a “once-in-a-generation moment” to develop alternatives after the dramatic collapse of US-Ukraine talks at the White House on Friday, where Trump cut short Zelenskyy’s visit following a televised confrontation.
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Starmer announced Britain and France would form a “coalition of the willing” to craft a peace proposal, declaring: “We are at a crossroads in history today.”
Despite the setback in Washington, the Ukrainian president insisted bilateral relations would survive recent tensions and that Kyiv was prepared to revisit negotiations over access to Ukraine’s strategic minerals.
“I think our relations will continue. Because this is more than relations at a certain moment,” Zelenskyy told reporters, adding: “We count on assistance from the United States without a doubt.”
The minerals agreement became a casualty of Friday’s diplomatic rupture after Zelenskyy challenged Vice President JD Vance over his characterization of previous US policy failures in Ukraine. Trump subsequently terminated the remainder of the Ukrainian delegation’s agenda, telling Zelenskyy he could return when “he is ready” for peace.
Nevertheless, Zelenskyy expressed a willingness to resume discussions on the economic pact: “It is our policy to continue despite what happened in the past. We are constructive. If we agreed upon signing it, we were ready to sign it. And honestly, I believe that the United States is ready as well.”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was among several Republican legislators who publicly suggested Zelenskyy should resign following the White House incident — proposals the Ukrainian leader dismissed while describing them as attempts to interfere in his country’s democratic processes.
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