On July 31, 2023 Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks in Kyiv with Gordon Girlich-Radman, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.
"The Croatian people know well the cost of freedom because they struggled for it in 90’s War for independence. Today, Croatia stands side by side with us who fight for a just future not only for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe," Dmytro Kuleba said.
The Ukrainian Minister reminded that despite all the war and post-war challenges, Croatia joined both the EU and NATO. Minister expressed his belief that Ukraine will repeat this pass, with the consistent and strong support of Croatian friends.
"The main topic of our talks today were weapons. We traditionally discuss it with our partners. We talked about Croatia’s further support of Ukraine. I thanked for the assistance already provided. For obvious reasons, I will not share the details. I will only say that there are specific agreements that will be implemented soon. I would also like to note that the assistance provided by Croatia is very substantial, if we calculate the share in the total military budget of this country," Dmytro Kuleba said.
The Minister assured that Ukraine is grateful for Croatian support: military, technical, financial, humanitarian including the one for energy sector. Ukraine appreciates Croatia’s sheltering over 27 000 Ukrainians, treatment of the Ukrainian defenders and rehabilitation of the children and families of the Ukrainian soldiers.
In the light of Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukrainian food export became an important topic of negotiations.
"We agreed to explore the possibility of transporting the Ukrainian grains via the Danube and Adriatic ports of Croatia. Now we will have to define the most efficient routes to these ports and make the most of this opportunity. Every possibility of unblocking exports, every open door is a real, effective contribution to the world's food security. I am grateful to Croatia for its constructive assistance," Dmytro Kuleba emphasized.
The ministers also discussed preparations for the International Donor Conference on demining in Ukraine, which will be held in Zagreb this October. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister expressed his gratitude to Croatia for being one of the global leaders in demining of Ukraine.
The diplomats devoted a significant part of the talks to the implementation of the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"The Croatian side has confirmed its readiness to participate in the implementation of a number of points of the Peace Formula: food security, energy security, implementation of the UN Charter and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, justice and prevention of ecocide. We are very grateful. This is exactly the specific step we expect other countries to make, and we continue to work together to implement the Peace Formula and hold the relevant summit," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said.
Dmytro Kuleba expressed his gratitude to his colleague, the Croatian government, and personally to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for supporting Ukraine on its path to the EU and NATO, and thanked Croatian Sabor (parliament) for recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
The talks and press conference in Kyiv were held in a hybrid format. Dmytro Kuleba took part in the event online while in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.