Ukraine, Romania presidents sign joint statement

The full text of the document was published by the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

The Presidents of Ukraine and Romania had talks, following which they:

-   underlined that they share the vision of relations between Ukraine and Romania as a Strategic Partnership based on the principles of good neighbourliness, shared democratic values and respect for international law. They decided to build a Strategic Partnership between Ukraine and Romania and asked their teams to begin working on this, without delay;

-   agreed to further intensify their efforts aimed at developing a solid and comprehensive relationship between Romania and Ukraine, based on mutual trust, respect, and solidarity; reaffirmed in this context their commitment for a positive, predictable, forward-looking, project-based agenda of cooperation between Romania and Ukraine, to be pursued in a constructive spirit;

-   confirmed unconditional support and commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including its territorial waters. Ukraine is grateful to Romania for its meaningful defence assistance package provided since the beginning of the large scale invasion;

-   resolutely condemned the ongoing war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and agreed on the imperative to continue practical assistance to the Ukrainian state for as long as necessary to achieve victory over the aggressor state and establish a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace;

-   expressed full support for the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Presidents positively noted Romania's particular interest for and involvement in the "Food security" and "Radiation and nuclear security" points of the Peace Formula and called on all states that respect norms of international law and principles of the UN Charter to support the implementation process of this initiative;

-   confirmed the joint intention to use all available international formats to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including the International Crimea Platform; 

-   noted the readiness to continue and deepen cooperation on issues of strengthening the security in the Black Sea region, response to the challenges and of the consequences of the Russian armed aggression as well as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. In this context they welcomed the successful First Black Sea Security Conference of the International Crimea Platform, jointly organized by Ukraine and Romania in Bucharest in April 2023, and expressed their desire that the conference will become an annual event;

-   emphasized that today Ukraine and Romania jointly make a critical contribution to ensuring global food security by virtue of the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through the territory of Romania. The Presidents supported ongoing, coordinated efforts to double the transit volumes through Romania from the current 2 million tons to 4 million tons per month;

-   welcomed the fact that a new railway route for transit of grain from Ukraine will be opened soon connecting it with Romanian ports. They commended Romania’s readiness to step up the export potential for products originating in Ukraine;

-   agreed to keep a close, transparent, predictable and principled coordination regarding the transit of Ukrainian grain through Romania, to continue finding common solutions in good faith and swiftly and fully  implement the already agreed ones;

-   underlined the importance of improving the connectivity between Romania and Ukraine, including through the development of existing transport infrastructure, facilitation of border crossings and the removal of bottlenecks, and the establishment of new border crossing points;

-   highly valued Romania’s multidimensional assistance to meet the needs of Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens since the first days of the full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation and noted the importance of continuing such support;

-   agreed on the importance of starting training of the Ukrainian pilots within the dedicated F16 training centre in Romania and agreed that Ukrainian pilots will be included in the first wave of such training. The Presidents noted that this, along with the participation of Ukrainian soldiers at other training facilities in Romania, is an important contribution of Romania to the strengthening of Ukraine's defence capabilities;

-   strongly condemned the grave crimes and atrocities committed by the Russian military and officials, including deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure of Ukraine, other war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Presidents confirmed their commitment for full accountability for all crimes committed in Ukraine, including for the crime of aggression. They saluted in this respect the ongoing investigations carried out by the International Criminal Court, the activity of the Joint Investigation Team and the establishment of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine as well as the activity of the Core Group of States aiming at identifying the most adequate legal solutions for the establishment of Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression in Ukraine;

-   strongly condemned the deliberate and systematic Russian attacks against the civilian infrastructure, including of the Ukrainian ports on the Danube, which affected both banks of the Danube, pose serious threats to the safety of citizens and are war crimes that further undermine the Ukrainian economy, food security, including at the global level, and violate free navigation on the Danube and in the Black Sea;

-   emphasized that the sanctions introduced by the EU and the wider international community against the Russian Federation should be maintained and strengthened until the full restoration of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;

-   agreed on the importance of implementing an effective policy of isolation of the Russian Federation, as an aggressor state, in the framework of international organizations;

-   noted the importance of Romania joining the group of founding countries of the International Register of Damages caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (under the auspices of the Council of Europe);

-   stated the importance of Romania's participation in the implementation of projects for the reconstruction and restoration of Ukraine, as well as the use of the Romanian logistics and transport infrastructure as a hub for partner countries participating in the implementation of projects in Ukraine;

-   noted Romania's firm support for Ukraine's progress towards the strategic goal of full membership in the European Union. The Presidents positively assessed the results of Ukraine's implementation of seven recommendations of the European Commission. They took note of Ukraine’s commitment to carry out and fully implement in a sustainable manner all the reforms required in the process of European integration, notably those aimed at strengthening democracy, the rule of law and the respect of human rights, including those of persons belonging to national minorities. The Presidents emphasized the need for a political decision to be taken by the end of 2023 on opening the EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova;

-   noted the consistency of joint efforts to support Ukraine's integration into NATO and implementation of relevant standards, including in accordance with the provisions of the Joint Statement of the Presidents of Ukraine and Romania on the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine dated June 1, 2023;

-   welcomed the fact that Romania became a signatory of the Joint Declaration of the G7 on support for Ukraine and Romania’s willingness to start negotiations for a bilateral framework with Ukraine in this respect;

-   emphasized the importance of using existing cooperation mechanisms within the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, UNESCO, IAEA, etc., as well as of regional formats – including the trilateral Ukraine-Romania-Republic of Moldova, the Three Seas Initiative, the Bucharest 9 – to strengthen practical assistance to Ukraine and foster cooperation between respective countries on security, energy, infrastructure and other projects;

-   reaffirmed mutual determination to strengthen practical cooperation between Ukraine and Romania in all spheres of mutual interest. The Presidents emphasized that the first Joint session of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of Romania in October 2023 in Kyiv should make a new impetus in fostering such cooperation;

-   noted the importance of effective cooperation aimed at ensuring the rights of the persons belonging to the Ukrainian national minority in Romania, and of the persons belonging to the Romanian national minority in Ukraine, including by developing the bilateral legal framework, based on the principle of equivalent level of protection of the rights of persons belonging to the Romanian minority in Ukraine and the persons belonging to the Ukrainian minority in Romania, taking into account international obligations and standards;

-   tasked the Governments to resolve, without delay, the issue of the artificial distinction between the Romanian and “Moldovan” languages, with due regard to all legal aspects.

-   highlighted the importance of joint efforts, both bilaterally and in multilateral formats, to counter foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), in particular Russian disinformation and propaganda;

-   stated that Ukraine and Romania demonstrate resolve to further strengthen interstate relations on the basis of mutual trust and respect, openness and comprehensive cooperation for the benefit of the peoples of both states. 

Signed on 10 October 2023, in Bucharest, Romania, in two copies, both in English.