(Tirana) In the midst of an international tour, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets leaders of South-Eastern Europe in Albania on Wednesday to demand their support for his country, which is lacking ammunition, while Russia is gaining ground on the front. , two years after the start of the invasion.
The Ukrainian head of state arrived in the Albanian capital, Tirana, on Tuesday evening after visiting Saudi Arabia.
He has been traveling the world in recent weeks to rally support for Ukraine, whose armed forces are facing a lack of ammunition and weapons in their fight against the advance of Russian forces.
Announcing Mr. Zelensky’s arrival on Tuesday evening, Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani assured that his country “stands in solidarity with Ukraine in its heroic fight against Russia.”
After a meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Mr. Zelensky is expected at the end of the morning at a summit with leaders of South-Eastern European countries which takes place until Thursday. This is his first trip to this Balkan country since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Today I work in Tirana. I will meet an unwavering friend of Ukraine, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama,” Mr. Zelensky wrote on X, specifying that he would also meet other leaders of the region on the sidelines of the summit.
There will be present in particular the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, as well as the Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani, according to the organizers.
Serbia is one of the few European countries that has not aligned itself with Western sanctions against Russia, but Mr. Vucic has met Mr. Zelensky several times on the sidelines of international conferences.
A member of NATO since 2009, Albania is a fervent supporter of Ukraine in the face of the Russian offensive, but its leaders have remained discreet on the subject of supplying weapons to Kyiv.
“Path to Victory”
During the mid-February visit to Albania, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Albania’s support for Ukraine.
“Albania was one of the first countries that sent military aid to Ukraine after Russian aggression, weapons, ammunition, armored vehicles,” Blinken said, adding that this country was among the ten largest supporters of Ukraine (in proportion, relative to the number of inhabitants).
This trip to the Balkans comes at a time when American President Joe Biden is trying to release aid to Ukraine of 60 billion dollars (55 billion euros) from Congress.
On the European continent, some European Union countries are ready to join a Czech initiative to buy ammunition produced outside Europe, and reship them to Kyiv.
Mr. Zelensky regularly repeats that his country desperately needs continued support from the West to defeat Russia.
In Europe, a heated debate was provoked by French President Emmanuel Macron who on Monday evening raised the specter of a possible sending of ground troops to Ukraine, following a meeting with his European counterparts in Paris.
Washington, Berlin, London and other European allies of Kyiv rejected his remarks on Tuesday.
“President Biden has been clear that the United States will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” Adrienne Watson, deputy spokesperson for the National Security Council, said Tuesday. Mr. Biden believes that “the path to victory” passes through military aid currently blocked by Congress, she added.
The Kremlin, for its part, judged that it was “absolutely not in the interest of these countries” to send soldiers to Ukraine and warned of the “inevitability”, in this case, of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
After withdrawing around ten days ago from its fortress town of Avdiïvka (east), the Ukrainian army confirmed on Monday and Tuesday its retreat from three neighboring villages, Lastochkyné, Sieverné and Stepové, further to the west. .