A referendum will likely be required to end the war in Ukraine, Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.
On July 21, in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the former pro-boxer warned that his country’s leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, “risks political suicide” over the next few months with any attempts to end the conflict.
“The coming months will be very difficult for Volodymyr Zelensky,” he said.
“Will he have to continue the war with new deaths and destruction, or consider a territorial compromise with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin? And, in this case, what pressure will come from America, if [Donald] Trump wins [the US elections]? And how can we explain to the country that we must give up pieces of our territory that cost the lives of thousands of our fighting heroes?
“Let’s be clear, we must win the war, but the situation is becoming increasingly complicated, it depends on the aid coming from the allies, it would be a nightmare if we had to fight for another two years,” he added.
Klitschko said he believed that an end to the fighting would be possible but that Zelensky currently did not have the political legitimacy to make any sort of serious compromise with Putin.
“Zelensky will probably have to resort to a referendum,” the Mayor said.
“I don’t think he can reach such painful and important agreements on his own without popular legitimacy.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is reportedly willing to hold a second peace summit, with Russia present this time, according to a leak from a Ukrainian official. https://t.co/50zaZyP9B7
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 12, 2024
The former sportsman added that Zelensky also had the option of forming an emergency government with opposition parties in order to garner the necessary legitimacy to make concessions, although added that was not a move the President would likely consider.
“I’m not sure he’s willing to give up the power concentrated in his hands that has guaranteed him martial law since the first day of the Russian invasion,” he said.
The comments echo criticisms made by Klitschko against Zelensky in late December, with the former having accused the Ukrainian leader of hoarding power since the beginning of the war.
Klitschko insisted such criticism was not an attempt to undermine the President.
“Let me be clear, I have always had excellent relations with [Zelensky],” he stated.
“It is he who has bad ones with me.”
The Mayor added that no one — even those most critical of Zelensky — was looking to see elections held in the country anytime soon.
“The internal political battle can only begin when the war with Russia is over. Elections today would only play into Putin’s hands, divide Ukraine and weaken us in the face of an enemy that is trying in every way to destroy us,” he said.
On the topic of the upcoming US elections, Klitschko said he did not expect the possible return of former president Trump to fundamentally undermine Ukraine’s war machine, arguing that he doubted Trump would end up being overly critical of the conflict once in in office, regardless of his current complaints.
“What was said before the vote also with respect to Ukraine then, after the elections, will be very different. And the Republican Party has always been anti-Russian, I don’t see why it should now support Putin’s reasons,” the Mayor said.
“In Washington, everyone knows very well that the Russian dictatorship represents a danger to Western democratic societies.”
COMMENT: Zelensky knows the West is tired of the war, and he knows that whoever is US president in 2025, the push in Washington will be to cut a deal with Russia, writes M E Synon. https://t.co/5D9CzHtJ4P
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 4, 2024
