Zelenskiy presses NATO case at Moldova summit close to Ukraine's border

[June 01, 2023]  By John Irish and Andrew Gray

BULBOACA, Moldova (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pressed his case for Ukraine to be part of the NATO military alliance as he joined European leaders on Thursday in Moldova close to his nation's border ahead of an expected counter-offensive against Russia's invasion.

Addressing leaders at the start of the gathering, Zelenskiy asked NATO members to take a clear decision on whether to admit Ukraine and also reiterated calls for Western fighter jets to protect Ukrainian skies after another deadly strike on Kyiv.

He spoke as divisions between NATO members spilled out into the open over the speed of Ukraine's accession, with some fearing that a hasty move could bring the alliance closer to direct confrontation with Russia.

The summit of the EU's 27 member states and 20 other European states was being held at a castle deep in Moldovan wine country just 20 km (12 miles) from Ukrainian territory and near the Russian-backed, breakaway Transdniestria region of Moldova.

Leaders were using the occasion as a symbolic show of support for Ukraine and Moldova while also tackling other issues, including a spike in ethnic tensions in Kosovo and efforts towards lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
 

Taking place under the watchful eye of NATO surveillance planes, the summit was a security and organisational challenge for Moldova, an ex-Soviet republic of 2.5 million people that is seeking a path to EU accession while being wary of Russia. Moldova shut its airspace except for official delegation planes.

"This year is for decisions," Zelenskiy said, speaking in English. "In summer in Vilnius at the NATO summit, a clear invitation from members of Ukraine is needed, and security guarantees on the way to NATO membership are needed."

Moldovan President Maia Sandu, a pro-Western leader whose relations with Moscow became severely strained after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, was using the summit to push for talks to make Moldova's EU entry as fast as possible.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine's NATO hopes rested on "unity throughout the alliance, and we work on it".

He also said Ukraine was working towards holding a summit to discuss parameters for ending the war but had not set a date yet, as Kyiv wanted to bring more countries to the table.

'BARBARIC INVASION'

NATO Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) surveillance aircraft watched the skies over the Moldova summit venue. Missile debris from the war in Ukraine has been found in Moldova several times since Russia invaded 15 months ago.

The head of Russia's FSB security service accused the West of pushing Moldova to participate in the Ukraine conflict.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a welcome ceremony during a meeting of the European Political Community at Mimi Castle in Bulboaca, Moldova June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza

With Kyiv promising a counter-offensive using recently acquired Western weapons to try to drive out Russian occupiers, much of the summit's focus will be on Ukraine.

"The presence of these leaders in our country is a clear message that Moldova is not alone and neither is our neighbour Ukraine, which for a year and three months has been standing against the barbaric invasion of Russia," Sandu said earlier.

The EU also aims to use the summit to tackle tensions in northern Kosovo between the ruling ethnic Albanian majority and minority Serbs, which have flared into violence in recent days, prompting NATO to deploy 700 more peacekeepers there.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani accused Serbia of deliberating trying to destabilise his country, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the ball was in Kosovo's court to defuse the crisis.

The summit was also expected to touch on a range of strategic issues including energy, cybersecurity and migration.

It provided an opportunity to address other frictions as well, including between Azerbaijan and Armenia, whose leaders will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU officials.

European Council President Charles Michel said this was a chance for Azerbaijan and Armenia to show "a common political will to normalise the relation between both countries".

Moldova, like Ukraine, applied to join the EU last year shortly after the Russian invasion, and Chisinau was planning to use the summit to showcase economic and rule-of-law reforms and convince leaders to open accession talks.

Moldova has taken in more Ukrainian refugees per capita than any other country just as food and energy prices soared as a result of the conflict.

The government has accused Russia of trying to destabilise the mainly Romanian-speaking country through its influence over the separatist movement in mainly Russian-speaking Transdniestria.

(Reporting by John Irish, Andrew Gray, Olena Harmash, Benoit Van Overstraeten and Alexander Tanas; writing by John Irish and Matthias Williams; editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Mark Heinrich)

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