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President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after talks in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis on October 10, the two sides discussed military aid to Ukraine and “there will soon be very good news in terms of artillery and air defense.” He also confirmed that a training center for Ukrainian pilots on American-made F-16 warplanes would be established in Romania.
“We agreed on a future strategic partnership between Romania and Ukraine and we instructed our teams to prepare the foundations of this document,” Zelenskiy said at a press conference with Iohannis after signing a joint declaration with Iohannis on his first visit to NATO neighbor Ukraine since the Russian invasion began.
“I thank all the Romanian people for their support and help to Ukraine. I will always remember the warmth with which our people were welcomed here. Romania provided us with military and humanitarian aid,” Zelenskiy said. said after talks with Iohannis at the Cotroceni Palace.
Zelenskiy spoke of “good arms deals”. saying that while he can’t reveal everything now, “shells are a plus, improved air defense is a plus.”
He said the F-16 fighter pilot training center was being established in Romania and Ukrainian pilots would be among the first to be trained.
Zelenskiy also said more needed to be done to protect against Russian missile and drone attacks that threaten the Black Sea region.
Since the collapse in July of a United Nations-brokered deal allowing the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments from Black Sea ports, Ukraine has used its Danube ports of Reni and Izmayil, border with NATO member Romania to ship food to the Romanian Black Sea. port of Constanta.
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“We have agreed to double the transit capacity of Ukrainian grain through Romanian ports to 4 million tons,” Iohannis announced.
Russia launched several drone attacks on Reni and Izmayil, damaging port facilities and grain facilities, while fragments of Russian drones landed on Romanian territory, destabilizing residents in border areas, although there had no damage or injuries.
“Every Russian missile or drone that attacks our ports (threatens the Black Sea region). We must do everything possible to prevent Russia from turning the Danube and the Black Sea into a dead zone,” Zelenskiy said.
Iohannis, in turn, said that Romania supports the opening of negotiations for the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union by the end of this year.
Ukraine and Moldova have been invited to open accession negotiations with the 27-member bloc in June 2022.
“I will personally advocate for it at the European Council in December. It is a decision which will confirm the progress of both countries despite extremely difficult conditions,” Iohannis said.
Iohannis also said he assured Zelenskiy of Romania’s determination to continue “multidimensional and coherent support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, including military support, for as long as it takes until victory against the Russian aggression.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said 75 battles took place during the day along the front line, adding in its summary on the evening of October 10 that the operational situation in eastern and southern Ukraine “remains difficult.”
The statement cited the situation near Avdiyivka, saying Russian forces had intensified their offensive there. The General Staff said the Russians sent up to three battalions supported by tanks and armored vehicles into clashes in Avdiyivka, Pervomaisky and other areas of the Donetsk region.
“Our defenders repelled all enemy attacks and did not allow the loss of lines and positions,” the General Staff said.
Avdiyivka has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance as kyiv’s forces hold firm in the face of relentless Russian attacks.
“Our Avdiyivka is under massive attacks from Russian artillery and aviation,” said presidential adviser Andriy Yermak. said later on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter
During the night, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 26 Iranian-made drones launched by Russia over three southern regions, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its previous report on October 10.
“The Russian Federation carried out another air strike against Ukraine, using 36 attack drones of the Shahed-136/131 type. Twenty-six drones were destroyed by the air defense forces,” the message said.
Russian drones were launched against targets in the Odessa, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Unconfirmed reports indicate an explosion in the city of Odessa.
Odessa Governor Oleh Kiper said unspecified “logistics infrastructure” had been hit.
On the battlefield, the Ukrainian army said it repelled five Russian counterattacks in the northeastern region of Kharkiv and the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
The General Staff said that Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations in the Bakhmut region of Donetsk and in the Melitopol direction of the southern Zaporizhzhya region.
Since the start of their counter-offensive, Ukrainian troops have been trying to retake Bakhmut, a town captured earlier this year by Russian forces after months of some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.
Ukrainian troops also focused by reaching the town of Melitopol in an attempt to cut a land bridge connecting Moscow-occupied territory in the east to the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Reports from the battlefield could not be independently verified.
With reporting from AP and Reuters
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