Kyiv mayor says AFU Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi ‘told the truth’ in saying war has reached ‘stalemate’

In an interview with Swiss publication 20 Minuten, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said he agreed with Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi’s statement that the war has reached a “stalemate.” “Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth,” said Klitschko, adding that some Ukrainian politicians had “unfairly” criticized Zaluzhnyi.

When asked if he has presidential ambitions, Klitschko replied that it was foolish to talk about this while Ukraine is still fighting for its existence, but said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s drop in popularity did not surprise him. He stated that Zelensky was “paying for mistakes he made” but that the president “has an important role, and we must support him until the end of the war.” After the war, Klitschko continued, “each politician will be accountable for their successes and failures.”

In early November, The Economist published an interview with Zaluzhnyi, in which he said, among other things, that the war had reached a “dead end.” In response, Zelensky said he didn’t consider the situation on the front to be at a “stalemate.” Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, said that Zaluzhnyi’s interview caused “moods of panic” among international partners and played into Russia’s hand.