Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted Slovenia’s president, Natasa Pirc Musar, in Kyiv to discuss plans for a second peace summit and a bilateral security agreement.
The Slovenia leader’s visit Friday came a day after Zelenskyy attended the European Union Summit, where he signed three security agreements, including a long-term agreement with the EU as a whole.
In a statement posted on his X social media account Friday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is seeking to “establish a comprehensive framework for such agreements with all European countries. This will not only strengthen Ukraine but also enhance security across the entire continent.”
At a joint news conference, Zelenskyy said he and the Slovenian president also discussed plans for the second peace summit, similar to the one held earlier this month in Switzerland. Leaders from 101 countries and organizations gathered at the Burgenstock resort on June 15 and 16 for that meeting.
Zelenskyy said they were preparing groups of countries to work on “peace formula points” discussed at that meeting. Most of the participants at the summit agreed that territorial integrity, the principles of international law, and the U.N. Charter should be the basis for any peace talks to end the Russian war in Ukraine.
Pirc Musar said she supports that formula. She also announced the Slovenian government had approved an additional package of roughly $5 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense, in a statement Friday, said it has ordered officials to prepare a “prompt response” to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft.
In the statement, the defense ministry said the United States was increasing strategic drone operations over the Black Sea to conduct reconnaissance and targeting of precision weapons supplied by Western nations for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“This indicates the growing involvement of the U.S. and NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kyiv regime. Such flights multiply the probability of incidents in the airspace with the Russian Aerospace Forces’ aircraft, which increases the risk of direct confrontation between the alliance and Russia. NATO countries will bear responsibility for this,” the statement said.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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