Ukraine's Zelenskiy seeks Balkan arms, support at summit in Albania

By Fatos Bytyci

TIRANA (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tried to drum up Balkan support for his vision of peace in Ukraine and promoted the idea of joint arms production at a two-day summit of southeastern European countries on Wednesday.

The summit in the Albanian capital Tirana comes as Kyiv is trying to improve its defensive capabilities to beat back Russian forces at a time of faltering U.S. support more than two years into Russia's full-scale invasion.

"We are interested in co-production with you and all our partners," Zelenskiy told top delegations from Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Moldova and Romania in his opening remarks.

"There are about 500 defence companies operating in Ukraine, each of them adds strength but it is not enough to win (against Russian President Vladimir) Putin. We see the problems with the supply of ammunition, which affects the situation on the battlefield."

Zelenskiy proposed organising a Ukrainian-Balkans defence forum in Kyiv or a Balkan capital to nurture arms cooperation, repeating similar initiatives conducted last year with British and U.S. weapons companies.

Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Romania are NATO members, have joined Western sanctions against Russia, and sent arms and equipment to Ukraine. There are significant arms industries in parts of the Balkans, especially Serbia and Croatia, a legacy of former federal Yugoslavia.

Longtime Moscow ally Serbia has not imposed sanctions, and neither Belgrade nor Kyiv recognise the independence of Kosovo, Serbia's former predominantly Albanian southern province which backs Ukraine and is seeking European Union and NATO membership.

Zelenskiy met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and thanked him for his support in the war and pledged to work further on Kyiv's plan to end the conflict.

Vucic said "only constructive dialogue and diplomatic solutions can bring peace" and thanked Ukraine for being one of a handful of countries to refrain from recognising Kosovo.

DISCUSSIONS WITH REGIONAL LEADERS

In a post on Telegram, Zelenskiy said he discussed defence cooperation with Bosnia and with North Macedonia. He also discussed weapons supplies with Bosnia, which is divided into the Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat federation.

A joint declaration signed by 10 countries at the summit said their leaders were ready to take part in a Ukrainian-led peace summit in Switzerland this spring to discuss Zelenskiy's vision of peace.

Zelenskiy's diplomatic peace initiative envisions a Russian military withdrawal from all of Ukrainian territory, has not involved Russia in talks so far and been dismissed by Moscow as a non-starter.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Zelenskiy held talks and signed an Agreement on friendship and cooperation between Ukraine and Albania, the leaders said.

Zelenskiy told a news conference that every time weapons supplies to Ukraine were delayed, it was a "gift" to Russia's Putin, an apparent allusion to the months-long impasse in the U.S. Congress over providing more assistance for Kyiv.

The other leaders reiterated their support for Kyiv in a joint declaration, saying they were ready "to participate in the post-war recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine in order to enable the Ukrainian people to rebuild their country."

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the headline)

(Reporting by Dan Peleshchuk and Olena Harmash in Kyiv, Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Sharon Singleto, Ron Popeski and Jonathan Oatis)