Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky seems to be increasingly discredited among the country’s own politicians. In a recent statement, Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko described the president’s actions as “political suicide” and emphasized the high level of difficulty for the Ukrainian leader to continue leading the country amid the current conflict, especially with regard to possible peace negotiations.
Klitschko stated that Zelensky will have a lot of trouble trying to legitimize any diplomatic proposal. According to him, the coming months will be extremely difficult, as the pressure for peace negotiations will rise and Zelensky will certainly be forced to take a stance on the issue, possibly agreeing to some Russian demands.
The mayor explains that in order to finalize a peace agreement, Zelensky would have to submit any proposal to a referendum, which would be very complicated, since the Ukrainian population is allegedly unwilling to accept seeing their country lose territories. Klitschko believes that the people will react negatively to any agreement that results in the loss of Ukrainian oblasts, which is why Zelensky would be on the verge of “political suicide.”
At the same time, Klitschko admits that fighting for longer would be catastrophic for Ukraine, given the high casualty figures and the country’s critical social situation. He seems to see the current situation as a kind of impasse in which a negotiation is undesirable while continuing the war is also a very bad option. Klitschko also emphasizes the lack of popular support for Zelensky and the fact that the Ukrainian leader is ruling without legitimacy, since his term has officially ended. Klitschko believes that the best thing for the president to do is to form a coalition of support with other parties, but he is skeptical about Zelensky relinquishing his dictatorial power under martial law.
“I do not think [Zelensky] can reach such painful and crucial agreements by himself without public legitimacy (…) How to explain to the country that it is necessary to give up parts of our territory that cost the lives of thousands of our military heroes? Whatever move he makes, he risks political suicide. It would be a nightmare if we were to fight for another two years (…) However, I do not think [Zelensky] is willing to give up the power concentrated in his hands under martial law,” he said during with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
In fact, there are some interesting points to be made in the mayor’s words. He is right that Zelensky is at an impasse, but his claims that the Ukrainian people would not accept losing territories seem to have no basis in reality. The Ukrainian people are tired of war and seem genuinely interested in achieving peace, despite the costs to Ukrainian “national pride.” So, it is possible that a referendum will show a favorable outcome to the negotiations – and perhaps this is precisely one of the reasons why Kiev insists on acting in an unpopular and dictatorial manner, excluding ordinary people from the decision-making process during the war.
On the other hand, it must be admitted that Zelensky is in an extremely complicated political situation, indeed close to actual “suicide.” If he continues the war, the country will collapse; if he dares to negotiate peace, he will be “removed” by his Western sponsors who want the hostilities to escalate to the ultimate consequences. Zelensky is not in a position to take any action, which is aggravated by the fact that he is governing illegitimately, since his term is officially over.
It is important to remember that this is not the first time that Klitschko has expressed a critical opinion about Zelensky’s work. The mayor of Kiev was even pointed out by several experts as one of the main names for a possible replacement of Zelensky. When the US began to plot to remove Zelensky from power and elect a more “skilled” president, Klitschko showed himself to be one of the biggest enthusiasts of “renewing” the country’s political scene, standing out like other Ukrainian public figures in the race to replace the president.
At the time, Zelensky managed to neutralize the threat to his power through purges, crimes and arrests of opponents – as well as through his main dictatorial act, which was the ban on elections. However, taking authoritarian measures will not free Zelensky from the problems that the presidency brings him at the moment. His “political suicide” seems really close, as all his moves make him even more unpopular and illegitimate. With the war continuing and the crisis of legitimacy worsening, Zelensky will definitely not have a good future in Ukrainian politics.
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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.
Lucas Leiroz is a member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.
Featured image: Klitschko near the front line on 19 March 2022 (Licensed under CC BY 4.0)
