Zelenskyy to seek more war support from a dozen countries in southeast Europe
The Hindu
Ukraine's President Zelenskyy seeks support from southeast Europe amid divided views on war with Russia.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is again seeking political and other support on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) from a dozen countries in southeast Europe at a summit in Croatia, whose President isn't attending in a sign of the divided views on the war with Russia.
Mr. Zelenskyy is in Dubrovnik for a meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and other leaders. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic has criticized Western policies regarding the war as Croatia’s political leadership is split over support for Ukraine.
“As long as I’m the President of Croatia, I will not sign for Croatian soldiers to be present in Ukraine,” Mr. Milanovic said Tuesday (October 8, 2024), asserting that “the NATO mission to train soldiers in Ukraine is nonsense.”
Mr. Zelenskyy said on X that “we will discuss international efforts to bring peace closer ... our joint response with partners to security challenges, as well as cooperation on the path to the European Union and NATO."
Kyiv is still awaiting word from Western partners on its repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they provide to hit targets on Russian soil.
Some Balkan states have been providing Ukraine with short-range ammunition. At a previous summit with southeast European countries in February, Mr. Zelenskyy pleaded for more to repel Russian advances.
In Dubrovnik, Mr, Zelenskyy will sign an agreement with Croatia on further cooperation, particularly regarding humanitarian aid, demining and war crimes prosecution experience that Croatia has from its own 1991-95 war.