TIRANA (dpa-AFX) – At a summit of southeastern European states in the Albanian capital Tirana, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj secured the support of the participants for his peace initiative. “Russia’s unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine remains the greatest threat to European security and international peace,” said the statement released on Wednesday. This was also supported by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, a former ally of Russia.
The signatories also pledged to take part in a peace summit in Switzerland planned by Kiev in the spring. The implementation of the peace formula proposed by Zelenskyj as early as 2022 will be discussed. The basis for this is a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, reparations and trials against war criminals. Participants also condemned the holding of Russian presidential elections next month in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
The signatories included the presidents of Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia and the heads of government of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. Ukraine has not yet recognized the independence of Kosovo, nor has Serbia.
Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion with massive Western support for over two years./ast/DP/jha