Zelenskyy meets with Prime Minister of Albania, cooperation agreement signed
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with the Prime Minister of Albania on February 28 (president.gov.ua)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana. The meeting took place on the eve of a summit on Ukraine to be held on February 28, according to Euronews, Gazeta Panorama, Balkanweb, President's website.
According to Euronews, the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit will be attended by several leaders of Southeast Europe. The Prime Minister of Albania expresses pride in organizing the summit.
At Ukraine. War Crime exhibition at the Center for Openness and Dialogue (COD) in Tirana, Rama says that in addition to co-organizing the summit, Zelenskyy will also hold bilateral meetings with Albanian political forces.
These meetings will take place before the summit, which begins at 11:30 a.m. The Ukrainian delegation will also include Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Zelenskyy-Rama meeting: Key points
- Zelenskyy highlighted the defense assistance provided by Albania to Ukraine and also expressed gratitude for the Albanian government's decision to allocate a new tranche of military support, including equipment and ammunition.
- Zelenskyy and Rama discussed Ukraine's urgent defense needs and further cooperation, including joint production of armaments.
- Zelenskyy expressed hope that Albania would continue to host Ukrainian children for recuperation and assist in the rehabilitation of wounded Ukrainian defenders.
- Zelenskyy commended Albania's active work on implementing the Ukrainian Peace Formula and Prime Minister Edi Rama's readiness to participate in the future Global Peace Summit in Switzerland.
- During the meeting, the parties discussed work on a bilateral security agreement within the G7 Joint Declaration in support of Ukraine, to which Albania has joined.
- Zelenskyy thanked the Republic of Albania for joining EU sanctions against the aggressor and supporting the 13th sanctions package.
Signing of the agreement
During the meeting, Zelenskyy and Rama signed a Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries.
"Prime Minister Edi Rama and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between Albania and Ukraine," writes Gazeta Panorama.
As the media adds, the agreement signing ceremony took place after the meeting of the Albanian Prime Minister with the Ukrainian President in a one-on-one format at the Office of the Prime Minister.
"Since the first days of the full-scale invasion, Albania has supported Ukraine, our struggle for freedom and territorial integrity. We will also never forget the warm attitude of your society towards Ukrainians who were forced to leave their homes because of the war," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during the meeting.
Before signing the agreement, Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Edi Rama Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. As noted on the president's website, Zelenskyy "presented the Order of Yaroslav the Wise, I class, to the Prime Minister of Albania for his significant contribution to the strengthening of interstate cooperation, supporting state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and promoting our country worldwide."
Zelenskyy's visit to Albania
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Albania shortly before midnight on February 28 for the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit to be held on the same day. This is Zelenskyy's first visit to Tirana, which comes just days after two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Earlier, Zelenskyy provided details of the visit.
