The Mayor of Kyiv has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hold a referendum on whether to continue the war with Russia, saying that “popular legitimacy” for the continued war effort is necessary.
Vitali Klitschko, who was formerly a heavyweight boxing champion before politics, made the remarks in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera this week.
While he stressed that it was his view that Ukraine “has to win the war”, he warned that President Zelensky faced “political suicide” as Ukraine’s position becomes more “complicated.”
“The next few months will be very difficult for Volodymyr Zelensky,” Klitschko said.
“Should he continue the war with new deaths and destruction, or should he consider a territorial compromise with Putin? And, in this case, what pressure will come from America if Trump wins?
“And how can we explain to the country that we must give up pieces of our territory that have cost the lives of thousands of our fighting heroes? Whatever move he makes, our president risks political suicide.”
He added: “Let’s be clear, we have to win the war, but the situation is becoming more and more complicated. It depends on the aid that comes from the allies.”
Klitschko went on to say that “it would be a nightmare if we had to fight for another two years.”
“Zelensky will probably have to resort to a referendum,” he continued.
“I don’t think he can reach such painful and important agreements on his own without popular legitimacy.”
Klitschko, who is known to be a political rival of Zelensky, was critical of the President’s “centralised” power since the outbreak of the war.
“A way out for him could be the creation of a government of national unity, a bit like what happened in Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7th”, he said.
“However, I am not sure he is willing to give up the power centralised in his hands that has guaranteed him martial law since the first day of the Russian invasion.”
Despite this, he said he would not support the idea of holding elections, which have been suspended since the Russian invasion in 2022.
“No one wants them now, not even the most critical of the president,” he said.
“The internal political battle can only begin when the war with Russia is over. The elections today would only play into Putin’s hands, divide Ukraine, and weaken us in the face of an enemy that tries in every way to annihilate us.”
Nevertheless, the Mayor said that Zelensky has “concentrated too much power in his office”, that the Ukrainian parliament has lost all “relevant role” in determining the country’s direction, and that heh “smells authoritarianism at home.”
“We must never forget that ours is a democratic republic linked to the tradition of European governments,” he said.
“We are fighting to defend ourselves from the Russian dictatorship – we want to remain completely different from Putin’s regime. Already six months ago, I told the German press that I smelled authoritarianism at home.”
Klitschko said that while he “absolutely agreed” with introducing martial law in the immediate aftermath of the invasion, he thought that decisions needed more widespread agreement going forward. Specifically, he pointed to Zelensky’s decision to dismiss former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, which Klitschko claimed caused “anger and discontent” in Ukraine and weakened the country’s sense of unity.
On the topic of a potential Donald Trump Presidency after the US elections in November, Klitschko said that he would be willing to work with Trump.
“We will have to work with him (Trump) if he were to be elected,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t be too hasty, for now we are in the dust from the election campaign. What is said before the vote, also with respect to Ukraine, will be very different after the elections. And the Republican Party has always been anti-Russian, I don’t see why it should now support Putin’s reasons.”
He added: “Everyone in Washington knows very well that the Russian dictatorship represents a danger to Western democratic societies.”