Zelenskyy supports Ukraine's accession to Three Seas Initiative

European Pravda – Monday, 20 June 2022, 16:32

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine should become a member of the Three Seas Initiative.

He made this statement in his video address at the project summit. 

Source: European Pravda citing Interfax-Ukraine

"Ukraine must be a participant in the Three Seas Initiative. It is wrong that our state has remained outside this great initiative," he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested strengthening the interpretation of cooperation in the framework of the Three Seas Initiative, emphasising the importance of logistics.

"[...] It is the states of the Three Seas that are our connection to the free world. The supply of weapons to Ukraine, the supply of fuel, the preservation of vital transport flows, green corridors for the export of Ukrainian food, the migration of people –  all this works through the territory of the member states of this Initiative," the president said.

On the subject of cooperation in the energy sector, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine has one of the largest gas storage facilities in the region.

"Using the capacities of the Poland-Slovakia, Poland-Ukraine interconnectors, [...], we can meet the needs of all the countries of the Three Seas Initiative. [...] Now our electricity exports can be a contribution to the energy balance of your countries, which will help you become completely independent of Russian energy pressure," Zelenskyy said.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that the Three Seas Initiative would not be possible without an independent Ukraine and hinted at the importance of Ukraine joining this format of cooperation.

The Three Seas Initiative currently brings together 12 Central and Eastern European and Baltic states: Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia and Croatia. The purpose of the initiative is to stimulate economic development and partnership.

Read more: Three Seas are getting closer: what will help Ukraine in the Central European initiative.