Russia shows no readiness to end the war against Ukraine and instead is trying to expand the conflict by involving other European states. This was stated by the President of Romania Nicusor Dan, pointing to the increase in sabotage, cyberattacks and drone incidents.
On October 22, Bloomberg reports on October 22 Bloomberg reports, citing an interview of the Romanian president to the American radio station SiriusXM. Details of his statements are also provided by the Romanian state news agency Agerpres.
According to Dan's assessment, Moscow is trying to turn the Russian-Ukrainian war into a broader regional conflict. He cited the increasing incursions of drones into Romanian airspace and incidents in the Black Sea as signs of such a strategy.
"We were not prepared for drone attacks, but we made progress and started shooting them down," — the president noted.
According to him, previously the main threat came from drones crossing the Romanian border from the Danube. Now similar incidents also occur in the Black Sea waters.
The Romanian leader believes that Russian actions are aimed at further aggravating the situation and involving other European countries in the confrontation.
"We remain calm, shoot down drones and try to prevent further escalation," — Dan stressed.
The President of Romania also expressed doubts about the Kremlin's readiness to conclude a peace agreement with Ukraine. He recalled that over the past year numerous attempts to organize negotiations had been made, but, in his opinion, Moscow has not demonstrated a real desire to end hostilities.
Instead, as Dan claims, Russia is intensifying hybrid operations against European states. He named sabotage, cyberattacks and the use of drones as the main tools of such pressure.
Commenting on the possibility of negotiations between U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Romanian president said that he welcomes any diplomatic efforts to end the war.
However, in his assessment, there is not yet enough reason to expect that the Russian leadership will agree to a real settlement.
Dan separately pointed to the economic consequences of the Russian war for Romania. He noted that the Black Sea has traditionally been an important trade route, but the worsening security in the region creates additional risks for shipping and international trade.
This directly affects Ukraine as well, which uses the Black Sea routes to export grain and other products.
Earlier, on October 16, Dan told Bloomberg that Romania intends to request from NATO allies additional drone countermeasures until the already ordered equipment is received.
He also confirmed that Bucharest will continue to support Ukraine until the end of the war and will participate in its post-war reconstruction.
In the new interview, the Romanian president named security as the main priority for his country. He identified attracting foreign investment as the second direction, emphasizing that instability in the Black Sea region negatively affects Romania's economic prospects.
