Ukrainian President Zelenskyy accuses Russia of avoiding diplomatic solution to conflict

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday accused Russia of avoiding a diplomatic solution to the conflict and sought support from southeastern European countries at a summit in Croatia.

In his opening remarks at the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit, Zelenskyy said Russia is avoiding diplomacy and that Kyiv has developed an action plan for victory in the war with Moscow.

"Russia has avoided diplomacy. That is why, in Ukraine, we created an action plan to bridge the gap between the current situation and a successful peace summit. This is our strategy for victory. It's a plan for dependable stability in each of your countries," he said.

According to Zelenskyy, once the plan is fully implemented, Russia will lose its ability to threaten Ukraine and Europe as a whole.

"The plan was presented to the US, and now we are sharing its points with all those who can help us achieve its goals," Zelenskyy said, emphasizing to summit attendees that "you can help with a key geopolitical goal."

Later Zelenskyy stated on X: “Together, we will develop cooperation between our defense industries. Croatia will continue to provide equipment and share expertise in humanitarian demining.”

Earlier, Zelenskyy arrived in Dubrovnik city, where he met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

Plenkovic, for his part, spoke at the summit about three key points they discussed.

"The first one is Croatia's ongoing assistance to Ukraine. Second, the relations of southeast European countries with Ukraine, and third, why Ukraine, which is suffering from Russia's aggression, matters to the world and how we behave," said Plenkovic.

“We convey to #Ukraine the unique experiences of Croatia in the field of humanitarian demining, processing of war crimes, and care for war veterans, as well as from the accession process,” he stated on X after his remarks at the summit.

The one-day summit was attended by the presidents from Slovenia Natasa Pirc Musar, Montenegro Jakov Milatovic, Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, and Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, as well as the prime ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Türkiye, Romania and Moldova were represented at the foreign minister level.

The summit is expected to issue a declaration condemning "Russia's aggression against Ukraine" and expressing support for Kyiv's peace efforts.