It is a special honor to have Minister Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, among us in Tirana today, at a time when his country is under an unprecedented and unjustified assault from the Russian Federation for the past two years. Albania supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, freedom, independence, and territorial integrity.

Albania strongly condemns Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and will continue efforts to hold Russia accountable for the crimes committed in Ukraine.

Albania supports President Zelensky’s 10-Point Plan as the most realistic opportunity to end the war and achieve sustainable peace.

Together with other actors and countries, we have already committed to cooperation in achieving Point 5, which involves “Restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine”, as one of the immediate objectives for ending the war.

We are fully coordinated with all our partner and allied countries to address the situation in full support of Ukraine. Furthermore, Albania has prioritized addressing the situation in Ukraine and condemning Russian aggression in all international forums, as we have done during the two-year period in the UN Security Council, as we are doing within our membership in the UNHRC, or even regional bodies, where this year we also chair initiatives of the BSEC, CEI and Adriatic Charter.

After finalizing legal and financial details, we are in the technical preparation phase for the opening of the Embassy of Albania in Kiev, taking into account the security situation in the capital of Ukraine. We hope that the inauguration will take place in the coming months.

We had a sincere and constructive discussion on the good and positive relations between our two countries, as well as on ways and means to move them forward, aiming to strengthen the ties between Albania and Ukraine.

Let me emphasize some aspects in this regard:

We have discussed the economic and financial assistance that Albania can offer to face the situation in Ukraine, as well as its reconstruction, which we hope will happen as soon as possible without any delay;

We have discussed ways to increase economic cooperation, which should be raised to the level of the excellent political relations we have. There are opportunities for trade exchanges, even in such extraordinary circumstances, to take on a new rising dimension.

We are pleased with Ukraine’s progress on its pro-European path and hope that the decision of the European Council to open accession negotiations will pave the way for their early start. We are ready to offer our experience so far in this process.

We believe that with its Euro-Atlantic path, Ukraine is determined to have its future alongside democracy, freedom, and European values.

And finally, I hope that the Joint Summit between the countries of Southeast Europe and Ukraine, starting in a few moments, the first of its kind which we are honored to host in Tirana, will be fruitful and offer new perspectives for the future of Ukraine and its people.