Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky implored mayors in the U.S. to end sister city relationships with Russian cities in an address to the United States Conference of Mayors posted to Facebook Saturday.
“Don’t help it justify itself,” said Zelensky of Russia. “Don’t maintain ties with it, and please do not allow those who have become murderers to call you their brothers and sisters.”
Zelensky noted that the first day of the annual United States Conference of Mayors began on the 100th day of the invasion initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, which has been condemned as a breach of international law by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank. From the start of the invasion at 4 a.m. Feb. 24 through midnight June 2, 4,183 civilians have been killed in Ukraine due to the attacks and 5,104 have been injured, according to the United Nations Officer of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.
Victims of the attacks include people who died due to the impact of 2,500 different missiles launched at infrastructure in Ukrainian cities.
“Some of the most deadly Russian missiles are designed and manufactured in Ekaterinburg, which by the way is still a sister city of San Jose,” in California, Zelensky said.
U.S. municipalities have “sister city” relationships with towns and cities abroad through the Sister Cities International program created at former President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1956 White House summit on citizen diplomacy.
Eisenhower, who served as supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, “envisioned a network that would be a champion for peace and prosperity by fostering bonds between people from different communities around the world.”
Often, larger cities have many different “sister” relationships. For example, Moscow – the capital of Russia – and Kyiv – the capital of Ukraine – are among the 28 sister cities for Chicago, Ill., according to Chicago Sister Cities International. However, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the suspension of Moscow’s sister city status on March 1.
“This suspension will be upheld until the end of hostilities against Ukraine and the Putin regime is held accountable for its crimes,” she said. “We must continue to support freedom-loving people everywhere and ordinary Russians in their desire to be free.”
San Jose decided to go in another direction, according to The San Jose Spotlight.
“Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement that rather than seeking to isolate Ekaterinburg, San Jose should forge stronger bonds with them, and support their dissent,” said the outlet.
In a letter, Sister Cities International discouraged ending sister city relationships with Russian municipalities.
“While suspending or ending a sister city relationship to register disapproval of a foreign government's actions may seem, on the surface, like a positive policy protest action, it has the complete opposite effect – closing a vital and, ofttimes, last channel of communication with vulnerable or isolated populations,” said the organization.
As of April 21, around 10% of the U.S. cities with sister city ties to Russia had suspended or ended their relationships, said The San Diego Times.
According to the U.S.- Russia Chamber of Commerce, U.S.-Russian sister city relationships have included:
Alaska
Juneau – Vladivostok
California
Livermore – Snezhinsk
Long Beach – Sochi
Los Angeles – St. Petersburg
Oakland – Nakhodka
San Bernardino – Zavolzhie
San Diego – Vladivostok
San Jose – Ekaterinburg
Santa Clara County – Moscow
Colorado
Colorado Springs – Smolensk
Florida
Gainesville – Novorossiisk
Jacksonville – Murmansk
Sarasota – Vladimir
St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg
Tallahassee – Krasnodar
Georgia
Macon – Ulyanovsk
Illinois
Bloomington-Normal – Vladimir
Chicago – Moscow
Dixon – Dikson
Iowa
Council Bluffs – Tobolsk
Des Moines – Stavropol
Dubuque – Pyatigorsk
Grinnel – Zaheleznovodsk
Muscatine – Kislovodsk
Osage – Lermontov
Kentucky
Louisville – Perm
Maine
Portland – Arkhangelsk
Waterville – Kotlas
Maryland
Maryland State – Leningrad Region, St. Petersburg
Massachusetts
Newburyport – Zelenogorsk
Minnesota
Duluth – Petrozavodsk
Minneapolis – Novosibirsk
Missouri
St. Louis – Samara
New Hampshire:
Portsmouth – Severodvinsk
New Jersey
Montclair – Cherepovets
New Mexico
Los-Alamos – Sarov
New York
Albany – Tula
Buffalo – Tver
Northport – Sochi
Rochester – Velikiy Novgorod
North Carolina
Asheville – Vladikavkaz
Charlotte – Voronezh
Durham – Kostroma
Ohio
Cleveland – Volgograd
Oklahoma
Edmond – Engels
Oklahoma City – Ulyanovsk
Tulsa – Zelenograd
Oregon
Beaverton – Birobidzhan
Eugene – Irkutsk
Grants Pass – Rubtsovsk
Portland – Khabarovsk
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia – Nizhny Novgorod
South Carolina
Columbia – Chelyabinsk
Tennessee
Chattanooga – Nizhni Tagil
Greater Tri-Cities – Rybinsk
Oak Ridge – Obninsk
Texas
Dallas – Saratov
Bryan-College Station – Kazan
Houston – Tyumen
Utah
Salt Lake City – Izhevsk
Vermont
Burlington – Yaroslavl
Virginia
Norfolk – Kaliningrad
Roanoke – Pskov
Washington
Anacortes – Lomonosov
Bellingham – Nakhodka
Tacoma – Vladivostok
Wisconsin
La Crosse – Dubna
Menomonie – Konakovo
Stevens Point – Rostov Velikiy
Zelensky also asked U.S. cities to partner with Ukraine to help his country rebuild from the Russian invasion. Russian troops continued to pummel Ukraine this weekend.
“This may be the largest economic project of our time,” Zelensky said.
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