BUCHAREST -- European Union member states from Central and Eastern Europe have called on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine unconditionally and promised to provide support to Kyiv “for as long as it takes” to repel Moscow’s unprovoked full-scale invasion.
In a joint declaration adopted on September 6 in Bucharest, the 12 countries from the Three Seas Initiative vowed to play a key role in Ukraine´s reconstruction once the war ends.
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“We remain committed to providing continued support to Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the joint declaration said.
“We are committed to playing a key role in Ukraine's reconstruction,” it added, describing the Russian aggression as “a blatant violation of international law.”
The forum started as Romania’s defense minister, Angel Tilvar, said that it appeared that pieces of a Russian drone used in an attack against Ukraine may have landed inside the NATO member's territory.
Since July, when Moscow abandoned a deal that lifted a de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian river ports that lie on the Danube River, which in parts forms the border between Romania and Ukraine.
Addressing the summit via video link, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia’s recent attacks on the Danube ports are “at the border of our three seas.”
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that the Russian attacks will slow the export of grain and that other routes need to be enhanced.
At a press conference during the Bucharest forum, Iohannis said that Bucharest has already accepted Ukrainian maritime transport through Romanian territorial waters off the Black Sea and will “continue to enhance exports on rail and road links.”
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Launched in 2016, the Three Seas Initiative includes European Union member states Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Estonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Lithuania. At the Bucharest summit, Greece was granted membership, while Ukraine and Moldova became associate participating states.
The initiative states on its website that it “was born out of a shared interest in developing transport, energy, and digital infrastructure connections on the EU’s north-south axis.”