Klitschko-Zelenskyy feud exacerbates Kyiv’s problems, analyst says
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vitali Klitschko (Photo: president.gov.ua, Віталій Кличко via Telegram)
The flaring-up conflict
between Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hindering
efforts to address the city’s urgent problems as Russia continues to pound its critical
infrastructure, political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told NV Radio on Oct. 14.
“The lack of proper cooperation between the president and
the mayor … is a major obstacle,” Fesenko said.
“But the problem is that neither side is clearly ready for [making
amends]. It’s not just Zelenskyy; Klitschko isn’t ready either. Whenever he has
the chance, Klitschko publicly and harshly criticizes Zelenskyy, and that does
not create any positive feelings toward Klitschko on Zelenskyy’s part. Either
way, I think this issue will be resolved in the postwar mayoral elections, but
not today.”
Fesenko said that where Klitschko is unable to resolve the
capital’s problems, the national government should step in. He said this
applies particularly to issues related to Russian attacks on bridges.
“Still, the conflict between Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv,
and the president of Ukraine is unfortunately seriously hindering efforts to
address the capital’s urgent problems,” the analyst said.
On Oct. 9, Zelenskyy criticized Kyiv municipal
government for “almost completely” failing to meet the deadlines set out in infrastructure
hardening plans developed after last winter.
“Delays in the work are completely unacceptable, and the
responsibility of the Ministry of Infrastructure and regional administrations
is personal. We have separately identified tasks concerning Kyiv because the
city government has almost completely failed to take the necessary steps,” the
president said at the time.
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