Romania has sent 15 military aid convoys to Ukraine and will help train Ukrainian F-16 pilots, according to the Center for Strategic Communications, the Ukrainian government’s official anti-disinformation organization, which released a video thanking Romania.

Romania has never publicly disclosed how much military aid it has sent to Ukraine during the nearly two years of the Russian-initiated war, sparking controversy and speculation.

“Thank you to our Romanian friends”

• “Not only the common border, but also the common history between Romania and Ukraine is the basis of our lifelong partnership.
• We thank our Romanian friends for being with us from the beginning in the fight against tyranny,” said a message published by the Stratcom Center on the X platform.

The video accompanying the message contains footage from pro-Ukrainian demonstrations in Romania, from meetings between Presidents Klaus Iohannis and Volodymyr Zelenskyi during handshakes.

They alternate with “cards” on which are written in English: “Romania is one of our closest neighbors and one of the partners who supported us the most”, “Romania sent Ukraine 15 packages of military aid”, “He will train our pilots on new F -16”.

Images of military equipment and anti-aircraft missile systems are also presented.

Images of Ukrainian refugees also appear, Stratcom reminds: “Romania has taken in tens of thousands of refugees.”

“Ukraine will never forget the generosity of our neighbor. Thank you, Romania,” reads the final message of the video, News.ro reports.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi: “Thank God, a smart Romania has appeared”

On December 20, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated at a press conference that Romania helped Ukraine survive during the Polish blockade of agricultural exports:

• “Thank God, a smart Romania appeared and the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, simply helped me.
• He helped our farmers survive. He also had so many difficulties, he had protests.
• I think he showed a strong man who said, “Values ​​first, costs later.”

The President of Ukraine claimed that the grain issue “cannot be politicized when everything is blocked”, referring to the decision of the old conservative government to ban the import of Ukrainian grain.

• “From April to September it was very difficult, we lost hundreds of millions of dollars, we lost part of the harvest, we lost every day.
• And every day our farmers asked me: “Our fields are mined, how can we even get anything out?”.
• But understand: I am not some coward, I protect the interests of my country during the war. I said: “let’s take out (grains)”, they didn’t give it. And it was a mistake. This is simply wrong,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest exporters of grain, and Constanta has become Kyiv’s biggest alternative export route since Russia invaded there last year, with grain arriving by road, rail or barges on the Danube.

Thank you also for Romania’s help for Ukraine’s air defense

In mid-November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi named Romania among the countries he thanked for helping Ukraine in air defense, because winter has come and Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure are expected to intensify.

• “We are already almost in the middle of November and we must be ready for the fact that the enemy will increase the number of strikes by drones or missiles on our infrastructure.
• Russia is preparing for winter. And in Ukraine, all our attention should be focused on defense, on responding to terrorists, on everything that Ukraine can do to help our people survive this winter and increase the capabilities of our soldiers,” Zelenskyy told Ukrainians in his daily address to the nation.

In this context, he thanked the countries that helped Ukraine with air defense, listing several countries, including Romania:

• “USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Norway, Italy, Romania, Sweden, Holland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Baltic countries and other countries.”

Zelensky noted that these countries provided Patriot, NASAMS, IRIS-T, RAVEN, Hawk and other missile complexes that help in air defense.

Zelensky’s visit to Bucharest

On October 10, 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his first official visit to Romania, where he was received by President Klaus Iohannis at the Kotrochen Palace. Zelensky was scheduled to speak at the Rada, but it was canceled.

In an interview with several Romanian TV channels, Zelensky said that Romania has supported Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia with 15 “packages” of military aid. It is not clear what this means and what specific help our country offered, but Zelensky thanked the Romanian people for their support.

He said the discussions he had with Romanian officials during his visit to Bucharest also focused on the 16th package Romania could offer as support. Zelensky addressed the Romanian people directly, saying that he was very grateful for all the help offered:

• “So, first of all, we talked about the 16th package from the Government of Romania to support Ukraine on the battlefield. We are very grateful to people. As you said, this is the first conversation with the (Romanian, – ed.) people, so we thank the people, the people of Romania, first of all.
• You should know that you decide how to help Ukraine, as in all countries of the world. Because the authorities and leaders also count on the support of society. And your president, I’m very grateful, your government… And I’m grateful because they rely on your support. So I am very grateful for the fact that you have provided such powerful support to Ukraine.”

The Romanian government has never spoken in public about the specific aid that our country has provided to Ukraine. Actually, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bohdan Aurescu, in an interview in which a BBC correspondent tried to find out what kind of support our country offers to Ukraine, stated that Romania does not make these things public because “this is the policy of our government.”

Read also:

• “Some believe that Romania offers too little. What did you give to Ukraine?” How Aureska was bombarded by the BBC with questions about military aid and what the head of Romanian diplomacy answered