Zelensky in Romania for Talks with President

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he was in Bucharest for security talks with his Romanian counterpart after a series of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Danube ports near the Romanian border.

“I arrived in Bucharest, Romania, for talks with (President) Klaus Iohannis and to strengthen our good-neighbourly relations,” Zelensky said on social media.

He said they would discuss “further security cooperation”.

Last month, NATO member Romania found drone debris several times near its border with Ukraine.

Since exiting a deal allowing safe grain shipments via the Black Sea, Moscow has ramped up strikes on Ukraine’s southern regions, home to vital grain exporting infrastructure.

This is the first time Zelensky has visited neighbouring Romania -- which has become essential to Kyiv’s grain exports -- since the start of the war.

“The visit reconfirms the continuation of the unconditional support of Romania for Ukraine,” the Romanian president’s office said in a statement.

On the agenda of the discussions will be “the expansion of cross-border connections, the development of economic relations and the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine”, it said.

After meeting President Iohannis, Zelensky will also meet Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hindered the country’s access to the Black Sea and neighbouring Romania has seen Ukrainian grain flow into its territory.

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Trump returns to the White House next month having pledged to bring a swift end to a war that NATO says has left more than one million dead and wounded since Putin‘s 2022 invasion.

Following protests by farmers in Romania and four other regional countries against the grain imports, the European Union agreed to restrict them in May.

But last month, the EU announced it was ending the temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports.

Poland, Hungary and Slovakia immediately announced they would defy the move, unlike Romania and Bulgaria, which have lifted the restrictions.

“Ukraine is grateful for Romania’s support, which strengthens our state, as well as its constructive solidarity, which enables our nations to be security donors for the world, notably in food security,” Zelensky said in his post on X, formerly known as Twitter.