Ukrainian, Romanian leaders discuss defense cooperation, peace plan

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis discussed defense cooperation in a phone call on Wednesday.

“Together with Klaus Iohannis we agreed on steps to further develop Ukrainian-Romanian cooperation, primarily in the defense sector. I thanked Romania for its solidarity and support in resisting Russian aggression,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

He said they also spoke about Zelenskyy’s 10-step “Peace Formula and issues of the bilateral agenda.”

Zelenskyy’s peace plan, which he first laid out at November’s G-20 summit in Indonesia, outlines a formula for peace, the last step of which is signing a peace accord.

It also touches on nuclear safety, food and energy security, and Russia’s military withdrawal from Ukraine.

In a tweet, Iohannis said the leaders had a “comprehensive” discussion, during which he reiterated Romania’s “firm support” for Ukraine.

He also “strongly condemned Russian attacks on civilian targets and critical infrastructure … which amount to war crimes.”

“Conveyed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Romania’s concerns on the recently adopted law on minorities and agreed to intensify the dialogue for finding solutions to ensure the highest standards of protection for the Romanian community in Ukraine, similar to the Ukrainian community in Romania,” Iohannis added.​​​​​​​