GUTA
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday opened the first Carpathian Summit in western Ukraine, bringing together leaders and officials from neighbouring EU countries with which Kyiv seeks to deepen economic ties.
\nThe gathering \u201cbrings together all the countries of our Carpathian region, our neighbours, and all Europeans in this part of the continent who respect the independence of nations,\u201d Zelensky said.
\nRepresentatives of Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and the European Union attended, according to the Ukrainian leader.
\n\u201cThe Carpathian macro-region has become one of the most reliable foundations of our defense. This is about strength that exists and will continue to exist,\u201d Zelensky added.
\nHe said the summit would bring together political leaders, as well as business representatives to discuss economic cooperation, security and logistics, as Russia targets Ukraine\u2019s transport routes.
\nNow in the fifth year of Russia\u2019s invasion, Ukraine is seeking to secure continued financial and military backing to sustain its war effort.
\n\u201cDifficult weeks and months lie ahead for all of us, not just Ukraine. And it\u2019s worth showing solidarity at a time like this,\u201d Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told journalists ahead of the summit.
\nWith around two-thirds of state spending devoted to defence, Kyiv said it would require an additional $53 billion in foreign aid next year, including support from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
\nUkraine is also seeking additional missile defence systems to counter the rising Russian ballistic attacks, while developing interceptors to counter Russia\u2019s jet-powered drones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GUTA Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday opened the first Carpathian Summit in western Ukraine, bringing together leaders and officials from neighbouring EU countries with which Kyiv seeks to deepen economic ties. The gathering \u201cbrings together all the countries of our Carpathian region, our neighbours, and all Europeans in this part of the continent who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-567942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n