ForMin Odobescu: We cannot afford to be weak, we must continue to support Ukraine

The NATO countries cannot afford to be "weak" and must continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, Romania's Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu told a joint news conference in Vilnius with his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis.The head of Romanian diplomacy participated on Thursday in Lithuania in an informal meeting on security issues called "Snow Meeting" organised in Trakai.She said that she spoke with Landsbergis about the implementation of NATO's regional plans and about a solid military presence on the eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea."It's all about Russia's unjustified war against Ukraine and that's why, now, we can't afford to be weak and we have to continue to support Ukraine. It's vital for them, but it's also a matter of security for us. We saw this directly or indirectly, with the Russian drones that fell on Romanian territory, but it's not just about that. For this reason - and we talked about it today - we must continue to support Ukraine bilaterally, but also at the EU level. I expressed the hope that, at the beginning of February, a solution will be found at the European Council for the adoption of the support mechanism for Ukraine," said Odobescu.Romania will continue its "consistent" and "multidimensional" support for Ukraine, the minister said."We will continue to support Ukraine's fight for its independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty for as long as it takes," she added.She said that the Republic of Moldova is Ukraine's most affected neighbour.Asked about incidents with Russian drones on Romania's soil, she mentioned NATO support on its eastern flank."The security in our regions was and remains a top priority for NATO. Not only in December, but also at the beginning of September [last year] we had several incidents with Russian drones which fell on Romanian territory. This shows how serious is the security situation not only in Ukraine, but also in the Black Sea region. We have been in strong coordination with our allies, with NATO secretary general, and we had also a strong reaction from our allies, not only of condemnation, but also stepping [up] with capacity for defence. This is why one of our priorities is to fully implement what we have decided in Vilnius summit in Vilnius. And one of these s is related to security in the Black Sea region," said Odobescu.