Row over 'embarrassing' delay to Ukraine link-up

A row has broken out over a delay in implementing a partnership between York and the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Councillors in York approved the process of adopting Lviv as a "sister city" in April 2022, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Three years on, however, the process has not yet been completed, with opposition councillors branding the situation an "embarrassing failure" at a meeting this week.

The council's Labour leader, Councillor Claire Douglas, said she would discuss the relationship between the two cities with a Ukrainian official, and denied the delay was due to a lack of funding.

Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley, who tabled the original motion in 2022, said at the time he hoped it would serve as a small act of solidarity amid dark times for the country.

He told this week's meeting: "We understood at the time that an official twinning process would be lengthy and expensive which is why we proposed a much quicker Memorandum of Understanding.

"We urge Labour to rethink this and take forward the sisterhood process."

York's Conservative group leader Chris Steward said: "This is another embarrassing failure of the council to enact a motion councillors have passed.

"I struggle to see the benefit to Ukraine in its current situation of one of its cities having this relationship with York, what Ukraine needs in this awful time is for the UK to stand 100% behind it."

Council leader Douglas claimed opposition groups had jumped to "inaccurate" conclusions about the delay to the process.

She said: "The council and our residents have continued to support the Ukrainian community both in York and in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

"Next week, I am looking forward to meeting with a senior representative from the Embassy of Ukraine to discuss the relationship between Lviv and York and see how our cities can work alongside each other in support."

Since 2022, 416 Ukrainians have arrived and settled in York through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

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