Ukraine: Opposition party calls for Zelensky's resignation as Putin recognises Donbass

After Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the independence of two Donbass republics Donetsk and Luhansk, Opposition Platform - For Life party is calling for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's resignation.

The party issued a statement stating that the Opposition Platform - For Life feels that the government should resign after failing to restore peace and return Donbass, and that politicians' fear, aspirations and carelessness should not be borne by the country. It also insisted that the failure of the Zelensky government should not be viewed as a national defeat.

The opposition party holds 44 seats in Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The statement also said that the current situation in Donbass is a tragic result of the authorities' inaction and lack of will, and that two-thirds of Ukrainian voters supported peace and the return of Donbass to Ukraine in the last elections. However, according to the opposition, the government was unable to handle this critical national duty.

No steps on implementation of the political part of Minsk agreements

It also stated that despite the calls of Ukraine's foreign partners, the Ukrainian opposition, citizen demands, and Ukraine's international obligations, not a single step toward the implementation of the political part of the Minsk agreements in the past two and a half years.

Zelensky is a former television performer and comedian from the Russophone Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. He assumed office in 2019 after running on a platform of peace in the Donbass and won the election. At that time, Zelensky stated that he will keep working for a ceasefire agreement in the Minsk talks, according to Sputnik.

One third of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language

About a third of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language, and the majority of Ukrainians speak Russian in everyday life. Two strongly Russophone regions, Crimea and the Donbass, took up arms and declared independence from Kyiv.

After Crimea opted to join Russia, the Donbass republics fought Kyiv for autonomy in a war that has claimed at least 14,000 lives, according to Sputnik. After a sharp deterioration in the situation in the Donbass, Putin granted the two republics and the Russian State Duma's requests to recognise them as independent entities on Monday.

Image: AP