Kiev mayor says Russian-controlled territories 'are no longer Ukraine'
(Baonghean.vn) - Ria Novosti quoted Kiev Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko as saying on Kiev 24 TV channel that it is very difficult to hold elections in Russian-controlled territories because "it is no longer Ukraine".
"Vote? The territories controlled by Russia are no longer Ukraine, because there are no representatives of Ukraine there," said the head of the capital Kiev.
This is how the politician commented on the possibility of holding elections amid the ongoing military conflict. According to the mayor of Kiev, it is still unclear how the Ukrainian leadership will calculate the territories that have lost control.
In addition, Kiev Mayor Klitschko said that holding elections in the current conditions would lead to "the collapse of Ukraine, when politicians would start fighting for power among themselves."
According to the Washington Post, some Western politicians stressed that, despite martial law, Ukraine must still hold parliamentary and presidential elections in 2024.
Previously, on October 11, in response to Romania's Digi24 TV channel, President Zelensky said that if the war had not ended, he was ready to run for re-election for the next presidential term.
Meanwhile, former Pentagon adviser Colonel Douglas McGregor said that if Western countries do not negotiate on Ukraine, Russia is likely to take control of more territories such as Kharkiv and Odessa. This expert said that, historically, these are "Russian cities, they have never been part of Ukraine".
Colonel McGregor noted that the more the US and its Western allies refuse to negotiate with Russia, the more they will force Moscow to make a decision on further troop movements./.
