DUBROVNIK, Croatia (AP) — Ukraine’s president is again seeking political and other support from a dozen countries in southeastern Europe Wednesday at a summit in Croatia, where the president will not attend in a sign of the divided views on the future. war with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Dubrovnik to meet with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and other leaders. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic has criticized Western policies on the war, as Croatia’s political leadership is divided over support for Ukraine.
“As long as I am president of Croatia, I will not sign for the presence of Croatian soldiers in Ukraine,” Milanovic said on Tuesday, claiming that “NATO’s mission to train soldiers in Ukraine is nonsense.”
Zelenskyy said on X that “we will discuss international efforts to move closer to peace… our joint response with partners to security challenges, as well as cooperation towards the European Union and NATO.”
Kiev is still waiting for word from Western partners on this repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they are intended to hit targets on Russian soil.
Some Balkan states have supplied Ukraine with short-range munitions. At one previous summit Together with Southeast European countries, Zelenskyy argued in February for more to repel the Russian advance.
In Dubrovnik, Zelenskyy will sign an agreement with Croatia on further cooperation, especially in the areas of humanitarian aid, demining and prosecution of war crimes incurred by Croatia during its own 1991-95 war.
In addition to Croatia, the summit is attended by Prime Ministers, Presidents or Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s government is the only one in Europe that has not imposed sanctions on Russia over its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, although Vucic has repeatedly said Serbia respects Ukraine’s “territorial integrity.”
Summit participants are expected to adopt a statement condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and supporting Zelenskyy’s peace efforts, Ukraine’s membership of NATO and post-war reconstruction, Croatian state television HRT said.
“Respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states has been a common basis for peace in Europe for all states of Southeastern Europe since the end of the Second World War,” said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic.
