The Ukrainian president arrived in Albania this evening to attend a security conference, the Albanian government said on Tuesday, during Volodymyr Zelensky’s first trip to the Balkan country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani announced the arrival of the Ukrainian head of state on social media, guaranteeing that his country “stands in solidarity with Ukraine in its heroic struggle against Russia.”
Ukraine’s head of state has traveled the world in recent weeks to drum up support for his country, whose armed forces are facing shortages of ammunition and weapons while battling advancing Russian forces on the ground.
A NATO member since 2009, Albania has been an ardent supporter of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, but its leaders remain cautious about supplying arms to Kyiv.
During his visit to Albania in mid-February, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Albania’s support for Ukraine.
The Balkans trip comes as US President Joe Biden hosts Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House to try to pass $60 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Zelensky regularly repeats that his country desperately needs continued support from the West to defeat Russia.
Before arriving in Tirana, Zelensky visited Saudi Arabia to discuss that country’s mediation in a prisoner-of-war exchange between Kiev and Moscow and the “peace formula” proposed by Kiev to end the Russian invasion.
In Europe, heated debate across the continent was sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron, who on Monday evening raised the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine after a meeting with his European counterparts in Paris.
Lisbon, Berlin, London and other European allies of Kyiv rejected the hypothesis put forward by Macron.
The Kremlin, in turn, considered that it was “absolutely not in the interests of these countries” to send soldiers to Ukraine, and warned against the inevitability in this case of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, arguing it was protecting pro-Russian separatist minorities in the east and “denazifying” the neighboring country, independent since 1991 after the collapse of the former Soviet Union and breaking away from it. The space of Moscow’s influence and become closer to Europe and the West.
The war in Ukraine has already resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides, but recent months have seen little progress in the theater of operations, with the two warring sides remaining steadfast in their territorial positions and not open to negotiating concessions.
Ukraine relied on financial and military assistance from Western allies.
Kyiv’s allies have also imposed sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy in an attempt to reduce Moscow’s ability to finance military action in Ukraine.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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