TIRANA, February 24/ATA/- Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama dared to raise the fact that the diplomatic landscape for Ukraine has fundamentally changed given Donald Trump’s dialogue with Russia and he urged fellow Western leaders not to ignore the new reality, according to the British broadcaster “Sky News”.
As we’ve been reporting, leaders are discussing the war on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The summit is being held in Kyiv, with other leaders speaking via video link,
In contrast to the reiteration of pledges of future military aid for Ukraine and a desire for Kyiv to join the EU and NATO, the Albanian leader said – while he supports all of these goals – it was vital to address the fact that Russia and the United States are separately talking.
Albanian PM Edi Rama said leaders appeared to be carrying on as though nothing had happened – when actually under the new White House a lot was different.
“I think something important has happened as you all know and the question is how Ukraine will be supported efficiently and how… Europe as a continent can be efficient in protecting itself and in making the best out of something that is going on, a negotiation between Russia and the United States,” Mr. Rama said.
“I am not sure just talking about increasing military support and increasing military spending we get the whole point. This is my humble opinion. Maybe I am wrong.”
He touched on the elephant in the room – the fact that Washington and Moscow have started talks about striking a deal and the potential for Ukraine to be cut out of the talks and having an unjust outcome imposed upon it.
“We have been for a long time in the American autopilot,” the Albanian prime minister said.
“Now the autopilot is seeming off. Nobody knows for how long.
“It is time for a deeper reflection than what we will do in terms of military support or military spending. For sure it is very necessary but might not be enough.”
He reiterated that Albania stood fully behind Ukraine and its allies.
But he said he had some doubts about the fact that the summit was only addressing half of the problem – the military side – rather than the new political and diplomatic reality.
