"Today we decided together to concretely start the process to raise the relationship between Romania and Ukraine to the level of a strategic partnership"

Joint press statements Klaus Iohannis - Volodymyr Zelenski

RADOR RADIO ROMANIA -
Klaus Iohannis: Hello! I am glad to welcome today at the Cotroceni Palace the President of Ukraine, Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky. Dear Volodymyr, welcome to Romania! This visit is historic for the bilateral relationship and sends a strong message of our constructive engagement. We want a bilateral relationship based on trust and common values, with a long-term vision and focused on generating concrete projects for the benefit of our citizens and the entire region. That's why we decided today, together, to concretely start the process to raise the relationship between Romania and Ukraine to the level of a strategic partnership. I am glad that today I signed a joint statement with President Zelenskiy, an event that you have just witnessed, a statement that evokes exactly this principled framework of cooperation. We are currently focused on helping Ukraine win the war, but as neighbors and partners, we have a duty and responsibility to project our relationship for the long term. Today, I assured President Zelenski of the determination of Romania and the Romanian society to continue multidimensional and consistent support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, including military support, as long as it will be needed, until the victory against the Russian aggression, until the liberation of the entire territory, the accountability of all those guilty of the crimes committed and further, in the process of restoring and rebuilding the country. I would like to once again express my full admiration, on behalf of myself and the entire Romanian people, for the courage and resistance of the Ukrainian people. From the first moments of this aggression, which proves that Russia remains the main security threat for the European continent and in the Black Sea region, Romania and the Romanian people have been with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. I repeat: supporting Ukraine is a strategic interest of Romania. Strengthening Ukraine's security means strengthening Romania's security. We thus support the fight for the fundamental values of the world in which we live. In our dialogue today we had an exchange of views on recent developments in the war. We have again condemned, in the strongest terms, Russia's repeated attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure. These are war crimes that affect the security of Ukrainian and Romanian citizens, and have major negative effects on Ukraine's grain exports and global food security. We have taken the necessary national and allied measures by strengthening surveillance actions, increasing vigilance, monitoring and aerial policing in the Black Sea region and will continue efforts to deploy allied protective equipment. We will continue efforts to strengthen the deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank and the Black Sea. I appreciated the constructive discussions held with President Zelensky in New York together with the President of the European Commission and the solutions discussed then regarding Ukrainian grain exports. We still want predictable and open cooperation, as well as the continuation of the full and rapid application of the proposed measures. We reaffirmed Romania's commitment to work alongside our international partners to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports to global markets. Thus, we support the Ukrainian economy and the urgent needs of vulnerable states. It has already been agreed to double the monthly transit capacity through Romanian ports to 4 million tons of agricultural products. Romania currently transits almost 60% of the total volume of grain exports from Ukraine. Practically, since the beginning of the war, more than 27 million tons of grain from Ukraine have transited our country. I assure you today, Mr. President, that we will make every effort to continue supporting Ukraine, but also to meet the legitimate expectations of Romanian farmers. Today, I reconfirmed Romania's political and practical support for the opening of accession negotiations to the European Union with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, until the end of 2023. I will personally plead for this decision at the European Council in December. It is a decision that will confirm the progress made by Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, despite extremely difficult conditions. It is also a strategic decision for the European Union. At the same time, I showed the importance of the comprehensive implementation of the reforms necessary for joining the European Union, in order to ensure the resilience of the Ukrainian state and society. We also had an exchange of views on the results of the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The deepening of the political and practical relationship between Ukraine and the Alliance is a historic decision. Given that Romania joined the G7 declaration on support for Ukraine, we had an exchange of views on the practical implementation of the declaration and expressed full support for the peace formula proposed by Mr. President Zelenski. And I repeat, only Ukraine can decide when and how it will negotiate peace. On a bilateral level, Romania is interested in advancing a comprehensive agenda for the benefit of Romanian and Ukrainian citizens. We want a constructive, transparent, solution-oriented approach, including on sensitive files. We also discussed at length the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities, considering that a Ukrainian community lives in Romania, and a Romanian community lives in Ukraine. Also, we want the two minorities, which are important for both of us, to have similar rights, in particular we are referring here, obviously, to the language spoken and to the education received in the mother tongue. Thank you, Mr. President, for the visit and for the very good and substantial discussions we had today.

Volodimir Zelenski: Thank you, Mr. President. Dear Mr. President Iohannis, dear attendees, dear Romanians, I am very happy to visit Bucharest, the first visit since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, against freedom. Thank you. I thank you personally, Mr. President, I thank your team, I thank all of Romania for the support and help given to Ukraine and the citizens of Ukraine during this difficult time. I remember how warmly our people were welcomed here in Romania. Romania also gave us military and humanitarian support. We are grateful for your solidarity and mention the fact that Romania chose Ukraine at the most difficult moment in our history. I had some very effective negotiations with Mr. President today. First of all, I would mention the agreement of a future strategic partnership between Ukraine and Romania. We gave instructions to our teams to prepare the foundation for this strategic partnership. We discussed security in the Black Sea region, about supporting the peace formula. We also talked about infrastructure, we talked about opening new crossing points at the common border, we also talked about national minorities. It is a very important decision to train Ukrainian pilots in Romania. A training center for these pilots is being created and I talked with Mr. president how to speed up the training process so that the pilots trained here will be among the first on the front. We discussed the situation at the front, we discussed our military demands. There will be very good news about artillery and anti-aircraft systems. In Romania, it is very well known how dangerous Russian terrorism is, how dangerous are the Shahed missiles and drones that constantly attack the Odesa region, the villages and towns near Romania's borders. It is a danger not only for our state. It's a danger to everyone. Romania is a country that guarantees the world's food security. The ports on the Danube are used, the ports in Romania are used, which ensure the food needs of other countries. Every Russian missile, every drone that attacks our ports, we must do everything possible to defend these ports, so that Russia cannot turn the Danube or Black Sea area into a dead zone. We are working with several of our partners to strengthen anti-aircraft systems in the Odesa region and the entire country. We have agreed on the first joint steps that will allow us to defend these ports. Another strategic direction of our cooperation is the cooperation in the triangle of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, which will allow us to create new possibilities for our countries, primarily economic development, we have already developed good logistics. Soon, a grain corridor from Ukraine, through Moldova, will start operating. This is of great importance not only for Ukraine and Romania, but for Europe as a whole. Trilateral cooperation gives a very good impetus for economic development, for business development. We are convinced that Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova will also become members of the European Union. It is very important that Romania supports this process. We are ready, we are ready for the start of accession negotiations to the European Union and Romania supports us in this regard. This, the accession of two countries to the European Union will ensure security and stability in the area. We also talked about the situation in the Middle East. Like Ukraine, Romania strongly condemned the terrorist acts against Israel. We must condemn terror. We must not give Russia or anyone the opportunity to terrorize the developed and civilized world. We will do everything. I am convinced that together with Romania we will support the same position in this field, at all international levels. Thank you for the fruitful negotiations. Glory to Ukraine!

Translated by: Radu Matei