kyiv mayor recommends Zelensky put hypothetical peace deal with Russia to referendum

Vitali Klitschko, the president’s political rival, predicts “difficult times” for the president and even more so if Trump wins the election

Jul 21. () –

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has recommended that Ukrainian President and political rival Volodymyr Zelensky put any peace deal he might strike with Russia to a referendum to end the war in Ukraine.

In an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, reported by Bloomberg, Klitschko believes that the Ukrainian president would have to demonstrate that the majority of the population supports the terms of a peace agreement that could include potentially bitter territorial concessions if the president gives in to some or all of the demands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Zelensky will probably have to resort to a referendum; I do not think he can reach such painful and important agreements on his own without popular legitimation,” he said, before clarifying that any negotiation scenario with Russia would represent a huge problem for the Ukrainian president.

Either way, Klitschko predicts tough months ahead for Zelensky. “Should he continue the war with new deaths and destruction, or consider a territorial compromise with Putin?” he asked, before recalling that Donald Trump — who has described Zelensky as a beggar with his constant requests for military and economic aid — could return to the White House in November if he wins the election.

“What kind of pressure awaits us from now on? And how do we explain to the country that we have to give up parts of our territory that cost the lives of thousands of our heroes?” Klitschko said, before summing up that “whatever step he takes, our president risks committing political suicide.”

Klitschko and Zelensky have long been rivals, and the former world boxing champion is rumoured to have ambitions to become president. “To be clear, I have always had good relations with him, it is he who has bad relations with me,” he told the Italian newspaper before ruling out “imprudent” elections in the country, in the midst of war.