Croatian PM says future peace deal must not cement occupation of Ukraine by Russia

This was stated by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković during the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos, organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The head of the Croatian government noted that over the past few years, the world has seen not only Russia's brutal aggression against Ukraine, but also the growth of Russian influence in the democratic world. In this context, Plenković noted that elections are taking place in Western countries, as a result of which political leaders who declare that they stand for peace come to leading positions.

While respecting efforts toward achieving peace, Plenkovic believes it would be wrong to proceed with lifting sanctions off the aggressor and effectively recognizing the occupied territories as Russian lands for good. Instead, he stresses on the need to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as its very right to exist.

He added that “with all due respect” to the new momentum of U.S. President Donald Trump, with whom his administration wants to start negotiations, the trap set up by Russia must be avoided.

He went on to reflect on over a dozen packages of sanctions imposed on Russia, suggesting they never changed the way Russia’s way of thinking, therefore, the prime minister believes, it is best to strengthen Ukraine as much as possible and make sure that once the time comes to sign a peace agreement, it does not perpetuate the occupation of Ukrainian lands.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on January 22, U.S. President Donald Trump stated on social media that he “loves” the Russian people and that he is “not looking to hurt” Russia but will have no choice but to introduce "high level of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions" on goods from Russia if Moscow snubs a peace agreement in Ukraine.