Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says he would give up his presidency in exchange for Ukraine Nato membership, in response to a question asked at a news conference
He adds that it is not his "dream" to be president for a decade, and he would leave his position if it led to peace for Ukraine
Zelesnky's comments come after Russia launched a large-scale drone attack across Ukraine, the day before the third anniversary of the war
Ukraine's foreign minister says "no one should trust Putin's words. Look at his actions instead"
Zelensky says he is willing to give up presidency for peace or Nato membership
James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent in Kyiv
“I wouldn’t call Donald Trump’s words a compliment,” says Zelensky on the US president labelling him a “dictator who’s doing a terrible job” on his Truth Social platform last week.
“I wasn’t offended, but a dictator would be,” he adds with a smile.
The discussion now turns to the need for talks with EU leaders, and Zelensky says if there are disagreements, it "looks like an unhappy family".
"It's not a toy, it's a war," he says. "We need partnership, we need help but we can't lose our independence, we can't lose our dignity".
Zelensky also says that he hopes tomorrow's meeting in Ukraine with European leaders will be a "turning point".
Zelensky is now speaking about US demands for a share of its rare earth minerals - a "deal" Trump said would reflect the amount of aid the US had provided to Ukraine during its war with Russia.
Zelensky previously rejected the demands, but now says "we are ready to speak about minerals" to America. "We are ready to share," but adds that the US needs to make Putin "end this war".
He reiterates that Ukraine needs security guarantees, and the draft deals they have been offered so far are not what they want.
But Zelensky says talks are moving forward.
Image source, POOLZelensky says he is "grateful" for the support of both the Biden and Trump administrations.
He says he wants understanding and security guarantees from President Trump to help Ukraine.
He adds that he has invited Trump to Ukraine and he wants him to be there "very much", but says "unfortunately we haven't achieved this yet".
Zelensky says "maybe he will come or maybe I will go to Washington and it will be very useful".
On negotiations to end the war, Zelensky says topic of joining Nato will be "on the table", but he doesn't know how these discussions "will finish".
"But it is important for all of us to understand that it is not a table where Ukraine is invited," he adds.
It is Ukraine who is "inviting European leaders because we are part of Europe", he says.
He adds that it is important US leaders are there as well, "because they are our main help in this war".
For context: Russia has consistently opposed the idea of Ukraine becoming a member of Nato, fearing it would bring Nato forces too close to its borders. However, in 2008, the alliance said that Ukraine could eventually join. Zelensky wants his country to become a member.
Zelensky is asked what assurances he needs from US President Donald Trump and whether he is happy to "give up" being president of Ukraine in exchange for peace.
He answers: "Yes, I am happy, if it is for the peace of Ukraine."
"If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready to do that, and I also can exchange it for Nato membership for Ukraine."
Zelensky says he is focused on Ukraine's security now, not in 20 years' time, adding that it is not his "dream" to remain president for decades.
Zelensky is now asked by a journalist about the expectations of the European leaders at the meeting in Ukraine tomorrow.
There are some "strong decisions" to be made, Zelensky says, and there will be a separate meeting with European Union parliament leaders on packages of support and sanctions against Russia.
Image source, POOLBeginning his address, Zelensky discusses a meeting between European leaders taking place in Ukraine on Monday.
He says the leaders will speak about their strategy "not for the coming years, but for the coming weeks", and discuss Ukrainian security guarantees.
Ukraine needs support from Europe and the US, Zelensky adds.
He says that in a week or two, the leaders will meet in a capital city of the European Union to "understand what security guarantees Ukraine might have".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is about to speak to reporters at a news conference.
The speech will conclude the Ukraine: Year 2025 forum, where we've been hearing from various Ukrainian officials.
We'll be bringing you the key lines from Zelensky here, and you can click the watch live button at the top of the page for a translated stream.
Image source, Ukrainian Armed ForcesUkrainian service personnel using searchlights to look for drones in the sky over Kyiv last night
If you're just joining us, we're bringing you the latest on Russia's largest single drone attack on Ukraine since the war began in February 2022:
Stay with us as we'll be bringing you lines from Zelensky's news conference and continuing our coverage in the aftermath of the strikes.
Image source, Getty ImagesUkraine's first lady says that overnight, "hundreds of drones brought death and destruction" across Ukraine.
In a post on X, Olena Zelenska says "it was another night of explosions, burning houses and cars, and destroyed infrastructure. Another night when people prayed for their loved ones to survive".
She says the world needs to respond to Russia "correctly. With more support, more responsibility from those who truly want peace".
The most important thing for them is to "stay together" and support each other, Zelenska adds.
The Kremlin says US President Donald Trump's recent comments about Volodymyr Zelensky - such as calling the Ukrainian leader a "dictator" - are "understandable" after Zelensky made "inappropriate remarks" about Trump.
"Zelensky makes inappropriate remarks addressed to the head of state. He does it repeatedly," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russian state TV.
Earlier this week, Zelensky said Trump was "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia in response to the president's claim that Ukraine started the war, and that Zelensky's approval ratings had fallen to 4% - but a survey conducted this month found that 57% of Ukrainians, external said they trusted Zelensky.
"No president would tolerate that kind of treatment," Peskov says, so Trump's reaction is "completely quite understandable".
We're seeing more pictures of the damage done overnight by Russia's largest single drone attack on Ukraine.
These images below are from the Donetsk region, located in the east of the country.
Image source, State Emergency Service of UkraineFirefighters continue to extinguish lingering flames caused by Russian drone attacks
Image source, State Emergency Service of UkraineA fire continues to rage in a shelled building surrounded by rubble
Image source, State Emergency Service of UkraineSmoke plumes were still visible in the early morning, following the attack overnight
Image source, State Emergency Service of UkraineEmergency services tackled fires in the Donetsk region
We're getting more information now about the damage caused by the Russian drone attack on Ukraine overnight.
In Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, the "residential sector" was hit, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Three fires broke out at different addresses, including a car and outbuildings, it says in a post on Telegram.
The fires were extinguished quickly by emergency services, the group adds.
In Yatskivka and Oleksievo-Druzhkivka, in the Kramatorsk district, rescuers "extinguished a fire in a garage and two cars".
James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent, in Kyiv
In Kyiv, “war fatigue” has a different meaning than it does in Washington.
Bedtime routines typically include air raid sirens going off at around 23:00 as Russian forces launch dozens of drones into the night sky.
What often follows are the crackles of air defences, scrambling searchlights and a possible trip to the shelter.
Last night was different.
Officials say 267 drones were launched, the highest figure in a single attack yet. Ukraine’s Air Force reported that 138 were shot down and 119, which were decoy drones, were lost without negative consequences, likely due to jamming.
President Zelensky claims 1,150 drones, 1,400 bombs and 35 missiles were launched by Russia this week.
For the capital, it meant six hours of air alerts. There was an audible din from the engines of Shahed-designed drones flying overhead - Moscow’s cheaper, favoured weapon of choice.
They sound innocent but are typically packed with explosives which can take entire sides off apartment blocks.
So, it’s highly likely Kyivites didn’t get the full eight hours of kip last night. Debris fell in four districts of the city, the local authorities said, but no casualties were reported this time.
Large drone attacks are a Russian tactic designed to terrorise civilian populations, to pressure Ukrainians into wanting the war to end regardless of the terms.
It’s why, along with the ongoing fighting, Ukrainians don’t believe Donald Trump’s assertion that Vladimir Putin wants “peace”.
After Russia launched its biggest ever single drone attack on Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's foreign minister says it "demonstrates that avoiding calling Russia an aggressor does not change the fact that it is one".
"No one should trust Putin’s words. Look at his actions instead."
In a post on X, Andrii Sybiha adds that the attack targeted "civilians and critical infrastructure".
Russia is yet to comment on the drone attack but it earlier said it destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones that were launched into Russia overnight.
Olga Ivshina
BBC Russian Service
Over 95,000 people fighting for Russia's military have now died as the war in Ukraine enters the fourth year, according to data analysed by the BBC.
This figure doesn't include those who were killed serving in the militia of the self-proclaimed Donbas republics which we estimate to be between 21,000 and 23,500 fighters.
The list includes names of the deceased that we verified using information from official reports, newspapers, social media, and new memorials and graves. The real death toll is believed to be much higher.
With the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, civilian men were drafted en masse, often inadequately trained and poorly equipped before being assigned to near-impossible missions. This resulted in a staggering number of dead and missing soldiers, the fate of whom often remains unknown for months or years.
Despite many people in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine having relatives or friends in Russia, they are far less integrated into the country's everyday life, which makes their losses less "visible" to ordinary Russians.
Russia's actual losses are almost certainly substantially higher than open-source data can reveal. The true number of Russian military deaths could range from 146,194 to 211,169.
As we've reported, Ukraine says it intercepted 138 attack drones overnight, adding that 13 regions were targeted across the country.
In a new update, the Ukrainian air force says the intercepted drones targeted the regions of Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Dnipro.
It comes after Russia launched a large-scale attack with 267 drones targeting Ukraine.
The Ukrainian air force says 119 drones were "lost locally without negative consequences", three flew towards Belarus and one towards Russia.
It adds that the drone attack caused damage in five regions: Dnipro, Odesa, Poltava, Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia.
US President Donald Trump may be making a "historic mistake" in his approach to trying to end the war in Ukraine, former Foreign Secretary Lord William Hague has said, adding it may trigger a "wider war" in the future.
Speaking to BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Hague said "it's a good thing to try to end a war but the only way to end this war in a way that doesn't encourage future wars is to give as much support as we possibly can to Ukraine, to show Putin that a war of aggression will never succeed".
"Having meetings with the Russians without the Ukrainians even represented, is, I think, the wrong way to go about it," he said, after US-Russia talks were held in Saudi Arabia this week without a Ukrainian representative present.
"That will raise the hope of the Russians that they will end the war on their terms."