Ready to resign after war ends: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said he would be ready to step down after the war with Russia was over. “If we finish the war with the Russians, yes, I am ready not to go (for elections). I wanted, in a very difficult period of time, to be with my country, help my country. My goal is to finish the war,” he said.

He said he would ask Ukraine's parliament to organise elections if a ceasefire was reached. The 2024 presidential poll in Ukraine was suspended in line with martial law after Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Zelenskyy, a former comedian, was elected in 2019. Russia has repeatedly questioned his legitimacy as a leader as a result.

During more than three-and-a-half years of war, he has maintained a high level of public trust. He is constantly in the public eye via daily messages on social media, visits to soldiers near the front line and international diplomacy.

A poll conducted at the start of September by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed that about 59 per cent of Ukrainians trusted Zelenskyy. Nearly 34 per cent of those polled did not trust him.

He also said Kyiv was seeking new long-range weapons from the US. He said if Moscow refused to end the war, Kremlin should know where the nearest bomb shelter was.