RENO, Nev. — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine known as out a number of American towns for having sister towns in Russia all the way through a video deal with to the US Convention of Mayors assembly on Friday.
Mr. Zelensky, who spoke to the collection of mayors simply after Vice President Kamala Harris, criticized Chicago; Jacksonville, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; San Diego and San Jose, Calif., for keeping up sister-city ties in Russia. He mentioned the ones relationships must be severed.
“What do the ones ties give to you? Almost definitely not anything,” Mr. Zelensky mentioned. “However they enable Russia to mention that it isn’t remoted.”
Chicago introduced previous this yr that it used to be postponing, however now not completely finishing, its sister-city courting with Moscow, which have been in position since 1997. Native retailers in San Jose reported previous this yr that metropolis leaders determined to take care of a sister-city courting with Ekaterinburg, Russia. As of Friday, web pages for the sister-city systems in Portland, San Diego and Jacksonville persisted to record Russian companions.
Many American municipalities have sister-city relationships in numerous nations. Although the partnerships can come with trade and political exchanges, the relationships are in large part symbolic and are from time to time administered via native nonprofit organizations.
However Mr. Zelensky, who spoke to the mayors 100 days after Russia invaded his nation, mentioned it used to be mistaken to offer Russia even the smallest little bit of added credibility.
“Don’t make any excuses; don’t take care of members of the family with Russia,” mentioned Mr. Zelensky, whose speech gained applause from the mayors and town staff who had amassed in Reno, Nev. “And please don’t let those that become murderers name your towns their sister towns.”
Officers in Portland referred to a remark from Sister Towns World urging towns to not sever ties with their Russian companions. Officers within the different American towns that Mr. Zelensky named didn’t in an instant reply to requests for remark.
