In a call on Wednesday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis expressed his deep concern and preoccupation with continued Russian army strikes on Ukraine’s civilian targets and critical infrastructure, which according to international humanitarian law represent „war crimes”, and firmly condemned Russia’s incessant airstrikes, the Presidential Administration reports.
Iohannis invoked the consistent and multidimensional support provided by Romania to Ukraine through direct assistance, support for refugees, the supply of generators and the facilitation of grain transit, as well as Romanian support for Ukraine’s European integration, the adoption of sanctions against Russia and of actions aimed at the international isolation of Moscow.
Iohannis reiterated that Romania will continue to help Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as long as necessary, emphasizing Romania’s support for the European path of Ukraine and welcomed the implemented reforms, in accordance with the commitments pledged in the relationship with the EU.
The Romanian head of state also „extensively” referred to Ukraine’s recently adopted national minorities law, which caused concern and dissatisfaction among Romanian authorities and the representatives of the Romanian community in Ukraine. There are currently approximately 409.600 ethnic Romanians living in Ukraine, making it the largest local ethnic group after Ukrainians and Russians.
Iohannis asked Zelensky to „rapidly identify solutions capable to address and remedy these concerns”, with the two presidents agreeing that in the immediate future the foreign ministers of the two countries should hold talks regarding the bilateral settlement of the said aspects, the Presidential Administration has declared.
The Ukrainian president expressed thanks for the „multidimensional and extremely consistent support provided by Romania ever since the beginning of the war and emphasized the need for the continuation of support to Ukraine, especially as Russia’s attacks are increasingly aggressive, with a serious impact on the population and civil infrastructure”.
With regard to the aspects related to the Romanian minority, Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his „entire openness to identifying solutions, so that the Romanian community in Ukraine enjoys the same rights as the Ukrainian community in Romania”.
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