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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Bucharest on Tuesday to meet with his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, where they discussed bilateral relations amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This meeting marks the first time Zelenskyy has officially visited Romania since Russia's invasion in February of last year.
Romania, a member of the European Union and NATO, has been a supporter of the Ukrainian war effort, with President Iohannis stating his country is "focused on helping Ukraine win the war."
Zelenskyy reiterated the two nations' steadfast relations and thanked Romania for continued military and humanitarian support. Zelenskyy stated on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the two countries' relations are crucial to "stability for Europe and beyond."
Romania and Ukraine share a border along the Danube River, where Russia has been attacking Ukrainian ports in an effort to disrupt the nation's export of grain.
Ukraine is a major world supplier of grain, and its economy relies heavily on that export. The nation has looked for alternate trade routes, and turned to Romania, which has stressed the importance of getting Ukrainian grain to the world. Twenty-seven million tons of Ukrainian farm goods have been exported from Romanian ports, according to Iohannis.
Amid the backdrop of Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports, Zelenskyy stressed the importance of the Black Sea and Danube region, and emphasized the need for security in the area, stating that they cannot let the region turn into a "dead zone" for shipping.
Among the announcements made Tuesday in a joint news conference, Zelenskyy stated that plans have been confirmed for training Ukrainian pilots in Romania to fly F-16 jets. Such plans were first considered by Romanian officials earlier this year.
Following the invasion, millions of Ukrainian civilians fled to Romania with many moving on to third countries. Around 85,000 Ukrainian refugees are registered in Romania, under the EU's temporary protection directive.
Ukraine-Middle East
Addressing the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Monday, Zelenskyy drew a parallel between the atrocities committed on civilian populations in Ukraine and those on the people of Israel.
"The only difference is that there is a terrorist organization that attacked Israel, and here is a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine," he said, and called for unity amid the crisis.
In a separate video address, Zelenskyy warned that Russia is interested in triggering a war in the Middle East, "so that a new source of pain and suffering could undermine world unity, increase discord and contradictions, and thus help Russia destroy freedom in Europe."
"We see Russian propagandists gloating. We see Moscow's Iranian friends openly supporting those who attacked Israel. And all of this is a much greater threat than the world currently perceives," he added.
In an exclusive interview with VOA's Ukrainian Service, Ukraine Main Directorate of Intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said the Russian special services are using the terrorist attacks on Israel in an anti-Ukrainian propaganda campaign.
Yusov claimed that Ukrainian intelligence received information that Russia has funneled to Hamas "trophy" weapons captured by Russia in Ukraine. This move, Yusov alleged, is meant to implicate Ukraine as a supplier of Western weaponry to Hamas terrorists and subsequently discredit it "in the eyes of the free world, its partners and allies." Yusov added such a propaganda campaign aims "to disrupt or complicate the provision of further Western military assistance" to Ukraine.
"These are fakes and provocations, of course," Yusov said.
"All aid to Ukraine and all armaments are under strict control by our partners, the United States and the countries of the European Union, NATO. The results of this control and the results of inspections have been reported on several times. Ukraine is being as transparent and open as possible," he said.
A warning that the Kremlin "is already and will likely continue to exploit the Hamas attacks on Israel" - to hype its rhetoric against Western interference in Ukraine, demoralize Ukrainians and reassure Russians the focus of the West on the Israeli crisis will deflect its attention from the war in Ukraine - was reiterated Sunday by the Institute for the Study of War.
Following Hamas' attacks in Israel on October 7, the Kremlin primarily blamed the West for neglecting conflicts in the Middle East in favor of supporting Ukraine. The Kremlin claimed that the international community will turn its attention to the Middle East crisis and cease to focus on Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that the United States and its allies should be "busy" with work on a "Palestinian-Israeli settlement" and not "interfere" in Russia's affairs and provide military aid to Ukraine, the ISW reports.
VOA Ukrainian service reporter Mariia Ulianovska contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse, Reuters and The Associated Press.