Kiev, Feb. 29, (dpa/GNA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky secured further support for his peace plan from the participants at the Ukraine South-East Europe Summit hosted in Albania’s capital Tirana on Wednesday.
“Russia’s unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine remains the greatest threat to the European security and international peace,” the joint declaration published on Wednesday said.
The declaration was also signed by pro-Russian Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
The parties also pledged to take part in a peace summit planned by Kiev in Switzerland in the spring. The aim is to discuss the implementation of the peace plan proposed by Zelensky in 2022. His plan is based on the complete withdrawal of Russian troops, reparations and trials for war crimes.
“We strongly condemn the intentions of the Russian Federation to hold presidential elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, which represents a blatant violation of international law,” the parties continued in the declaration.
Russia is due to hold its presidential election on March 15-17. Voting will also take place in the regions of Ukraine that Russia annexed in violation of international law: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya, annexed in September 2022, and Crimea, annexed in March 2014.
Another term for the incumbent, Vladimir Putin, is a foregone conclusion.
Among the signatories to the declaration in Tirana were the presidents of Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia and the heads of government of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania.
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Wednesday that Russia’s influence over former Soviet countries has declined since the beginning of the war in Ukraine began two years ago.
In the statement published on X, formerly Twitter, with its daily intelligence report on the war, it added that Russia’s traditional position as a regional security guarantor has also been called into question due to the lack of a military breakthrough in Ukraine.
The Russian economic crisis and the risk of additional sanctions have fuelled fears of economic dependency, it said.
“In response to these trends, states across the former Soviet Union have intensified efforts to diversify their economic, political and security relationships to reduce their dependence on Russia.
“While Russia maintains a significant presence, both overt and covert, in the region, the Kremlin’s ability to achieve its aims and objectives has almost certainly declined significantly over the past two years,” the MoD wrote.
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ministry has regularly published information on the course of the war. Moscow accuses London of disinformation.
GNA