Romanian officials discussed arms deliveries with Zelensky during visit to Kyiv

Romanian leaders who traveled to Ukraine this week discussed delivering arms to help Ukrainian forces defend themselves from the Russian full-scale invasion of their countries.

Parliament speaker Marcel Ciolacu on Thursday said Bucharest was prepared to  send military hardware “this is why we visited (Ukraine) to offer help.”

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, and separately Senate speaker Florin Citu all traveled to Kyiv on Tuesday where they met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and  Rada speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.

The purpose of the visit was to cement Romania’s support for its neighbor after Russia invaded and to make sure the rights of the large Romanian-speaking minority there are respected.

“We needed to put finalize certain aspects which could only be done face-to-face,” the Social Democrat leader said, declining to go into specifics due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.

He didn’t specify what kind of  military equipment would be sent to Ukraine, and Romanian and Ukrainian officials have said they prefer not to discuss specifics. Mr Ciolacu , who heads the Social Democrats,  claimed  he hadn’t discussed the issue with Defense Minister Vasile Dîncu.

Other countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary and Moldova have said they won’t sent weapons, over fears of provoking a reaction from Russia or have good relations with Russia, in Hungary’s case.

The Social Democrat leader suggested Romania needed a legal framework to send weapons “and have political agreement,” he said.”I believe we are prepared.”

While the two main parties in the coalition-the Liberals and the Social Democrats agree on sending weapons, there is some uneasiness about public support who fear the war could spread to Romania.

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