DUBROVNIK: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived on Wednesday in Croatia for a summit with Balkan leaders as his country pushes for more military aid as it struggles to repel Russian advances. Zelensky said the summit "will discuss international efforts to bring peace closer... as well as cooperation on the path to the European Union and Nato" as he arrived in the Croatian resort of Dubrovnik.
The Ukrainian leader has stepped up a bid to rally backing from allies amid doubts about future US support after the November presidential election. The heads of state, premiers and foreign ministers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkiye were to join Zelensky and Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic at the talks.
The summit will show that the "whole region supports Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the fight for freedom", Plenkovic said. He pledged continuous "solidarity with Ukraine... including military support".
Zelensky said after meeting Plenkovic that their talks focused on defence cooperation, demining, rehabilitation of wounded children and soldiers as well as Ukraine's recovery and European integration. "Together, we will develop cooperation between our defence industries," he said on X.
The two leaders signed an agreement on long-term support and cooperation. "We convey to Ukraine Croatia's unique experiences in the field of humanitarian demining, processing of war crimes and care for war veterans, as well as from the EU accession process," Plenkovic said on X.
The gathering in the Adriatic resort is the third "Ukraine-Southeast Europe" summit. At the last one in Albania in February, Zelensky called for greater backing to help fend off Russian forces.
He has been pressing for more aid to counter Russia's advantage in manpower and ammunition. Zelensky also wants clearance to use long-range weapons supplied by allies including the United States to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
Zelensky was also to attend an international meeting of more than 50 countries to discuss military support for Ukraine in Germany on Saturday. But the meeting at the Ramstein air base "is postponed", the US military said in a statement, without specifying a new date. Zelensky had also pressed for greater military support at the last Ramstein meeting in September.
The US presidential election in November could compromise the billions of dollars of support that Ukraine receives from its biggest backer. Republican candidate Donald Trump has repeatedly defended Russian President Vladimir Putin and voiced scepticism over US funding for Kyiv. — AFP
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