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President Iohannis joins US President's call with NATO leaders
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday participated, at the call of the US President Joe Biden in a new round of political consultations with NATO and other global leaders amidst the continuation of the military conflict triggered by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
The leaders discussed the steps to be taken to effectively continue support for Ukraine, as well as to get Russia to stop its war and its illegal and irresponsible actions. The discussions also focused on ensuring food security and critical supply chains, according to the Romanian Presidential Administration.
Iohannis pointed out that Russia must stop its attacks on the Ukrainian ports on the Danube, in the immediate vicinity of Romania, as they are war crimes aimed at destroying grain warehouses and critical supply infrastructure, affecting transport on the Danube as well.
He presented the lines of action undertaken so far at the national and NATO level, by strengthening surveillance measures, increasing vigilance, monitoring and air policing in the Black Sea region and thanked NATO and the US for the help provided in this sense.
At the same time, he asked the leaders to intensify efforts to secure the deterrence and defence posture on the eastern flank and the Black Sea more efficiently and better calibrated to the current security situation. He said that at this moment increased capabilities are needed for the detection and interception of drones, as well as for stronger air defence in accordance with the decisions of the Vilnius Summit.
During the call, Iohannis showed that Romania will continue to support Ukraine, standing in solidarity for as long as it takes on all relevant levels - including grain transit. Recalling the recent meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, he presented the concrete measures taken by Romania to improve transit logistics, which led to the facilitation of the transit of over 27 million tonmes of grain since the beginning of the war, with the objective of doubling the transit capacity to 4 million tonnes of grain per month being reached by the end of the year.
The US President and the participating leaders expressed special appreciation and support for the efforts made by Romania in support of Ukraine, including, among other things, for the training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots. President Biden also reiterated the US commitment for the security of Romania and the other allies on the eastern flank, including the recent deployment of additional American F-16 fighter jets in our country.
Also joining the call were German Chancellor Olaf Scholz; UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak; Prime Minister of Italy Georgia Meloni; Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau; Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida; Poland's President Andrzej Duda; French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna; NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg; President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and President of the European Council Charles Michel.