President Milanović in Washington: Dangers are great and every move and word should be carefully considered

“These are difficult and unprecedented times, dangers are great and every move and every word should be carefully considered. It’s important to keep an open dialogue with Moscow – here I don’t only mean Putin – and we know who has to talk to the Russians, it’s the Americans.  That happened about ten days ago after an incident on the beach, after that some things changed. I feel this is important and necessary, relations between Moscow and Washington are crucial, all else is decoration”, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović told journalists during the NATO summit.

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, he said: “Ukraine is at risk of becoming economically exhausted and demographically destroyed. We must be honest with them and not make promises we can’t keep. It is said that Ukraine’s path to NATO is irreversible, this must be taken very seriously because it is binding”.

Journalists were also interested in how the dinner at the White House went, what was discussed there, and they further asked him about his impression of President Biden, who hosted a dinner for the heads of state and government of NATO member states on Wednesday. “It’s not appropriate for me to comment on that. I talked to him privately more than ever before. It was an informal get-together and an opportunity to talk, not only with him but with others as well,” President Milanović replied.

“It’s important that NATO, as the oldest and most successful defence alliance ever, stays together because we have no better company. But at the same time, the world is polarizing, and some people here find it harder to understand this,” President Milanović added.

Asked if there is concern among European leaders about a possible change in the White House and the return of Donald Trump, President Milanović said: “It depends, some would be glad, some would not.”

He confirmed that during the three-day summit he held a number of bilateral talks with leaders of NATO member states. “Many discussions were held during the summit”, President Milanović noted.

On the third day of the NATO Summit in Washington, a meeting was held of the North Atlantic Council at the level of heads of state and government with Indo-Pacific Partners and the European Union, as well as meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas