The showdown between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s acting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set into motion some stress lines in Ukraine. Kiev’s Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, a potential rival to Zelenskyy should a presidential election be allowed, suggested to the BBC that the recognition of the reality of Crimea as Russian may be necessary. Giving up land may be necessary; “It’s not fair, but for peace—temporary peace— maybe it can be [a] solution,” said Klitschko.
When BBC asked whether, as mayor of the capital, he should be invited to such discussions, Klitschko replied: “President Zelenskyy doesn’t think so.” Then he added: “It’s not my function, first of all. It’s the function of President Zelenskyy.”
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, a close ally of Ukraine, called on Zelenskyy to compromise on territorial concessions. “It has to be a compromise. I mean, de facto, this peace should, in my personal opinion, come down to the fact that neither side will be able to say that it won this war, because each side in some sense will have to step down. Ukraine will also have to step down in some sense, because that’s what will probably happen. To what extent? It is difficult for me to answer at this stage.”
