Ukraine should make concessions

Former boxer Vitali Klickko seems to be in line with US President Donald Trump when he states that « Ukraine must temporarily give up the territories in order to achieve peace with Russia. »

« Ukraine can have to leave part of its territory to reach a peace agreement with Russia. »

Vitali Klicko, the mayor of Kiev, said in an interview with the British BBC media that one of the scenarios is the release of part of the territory. The former boxing champion statement came three years after the Russian occupation in Ukraine and at the height of pressures by US President Trump that peace can only come if Ukraine makes territorial concessions.

« It is not right. But for peace, temporary peace, perhaps this may be a temporary solution, » he said, answering the BBC questions, pointing out that the Ukrainian people « should never accept Russian occupation ».

Interview with the 53-year-old was conducted in his office in Kiev, the city he called the « heart » of a war-torn country. A few hours before the interview, the Ukrainian capital experienced the latest drone attack, which shot 12 people and injured more than 80 others.

Political rivalry in times of war
Kiev Mayor and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski are political opponents. Klickko is one of the high -profile politicians in Ukraine who has publicly claimed that his country will have to temporarily leave territories and has subsequently accused the president and his team of trying to undermine authority.

He stated during the interview that his political rival would be forced to accept a « painful solution » in order to achieve peace. When asked if Zelenski had discussed with him any detail about reaching an agreement, the former champion responded cut with a « no ».

« President Zelenski sets this on his own. It’s not my job, » Klickko added.

The tense situation recently between Zelenski and Trump in the White House was commented by the mayor, who said that « important topics between the two important politicians are better to discuss without the presence of cameras. »

Trump against zelenes
At the beginning of this week, US President Trump accused Zelenski of damaging peace negotiations, as the Ukrainian counterpart again ruled the possibility of recognizing Russian control over Crimea, the Southern Ukrainian Peninsula, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

During an interview with Time magazine, Trump said « Crimea will stay with Russia », a statement that followed the most earlier ones where Trump said « the peninsula was lost years ago. »

Zelenski himself referred to a 2018 statement made by the Secretary of State of Trump’s first governing mandate, Mike Pompeo, who said « the United States rejects Russian annexation ».

Ukraine and European allies have expressed concern in recent weeks about Trump’s « warm » relations with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Currently Moscow controls about 20% of the Ukrainian territory.
DW