After the mysterious explosion in Romania.. Ukraine acknowledges ownership of the exploding drone
Ukraine has ended the regional dispute over the identity of the naval drone that exploded early yesterday inside the Romanian port of Constantsa overlooking the Black Sea.
In an official statement published on Facebook, the Ukrainian navy acknowledged the ownership of the drone, explaining that its arrival on the Romanian coast came after it lost full control of it as a result of being subjected to intensive blocking and jamming strikes by the Russian army's electronic warfare systems.
Romania's Ministry of National Defense said the drone was "of the type used in the war in Ukraine," stressing that it was not part of the Romanian army's stockpile or recent military exercises.
Atlantic condemnation and Russian counter-stance
Romanian President Nicoshur Dan, in a post on the "X" platform, linked the incident to his country's national security, describing the explosion as "a direct result of the war waged by Russia against Ukraine", noting that it represents the second serious security incident on the Romanian coast in a week;
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has entered the crisis line expressing her absolute solidarity with Bucharest and warning that Russia's war is now a direct and growing threat to countries on the EU's eastern border.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also denounced Russia's "irresponsible" behaviour as a threat to the safety of allies.
Russia denies
The Russian embassy in Bucharest, on the other hand, categorically denied any connection to Moscow in the incident, and said in a statement on the "Telegram" application that attempts to link Moscow to the march – whether directly or indirectly – are baseless, describing the explosive boats as Ukrainian-made and operated;
This diplomatic denial was complemented by previous statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he questioned his country's responsibility for the border incidents, stressing that Russia does not target or threaten the sovereign security of European countries.
Repeated violations and the ignition of the Eastern Front
European sources said that this serious maritime incident comes as a direct repercussion of the Black Sea military operations on Ukraine's neighbors, especially just one week after the crash of a Russian drone loaded with explosives in the city of Galatis in eastern Romania, which caused a fire to break out on the roof of an apartment building and injured two civilians.The Galatz incident marks the first such impact on a populated building, although Romanian airspace has seen repeated violations of dozens of drones and drones since the war began in 2022.
These successive incursions, coupled with the proliferation of loose sea mines on the shores, put the countries of NATO's eastern front in a state of constant defensive alert, in light of international efforts to establish strict monitoring mechanisms to prevent electronic warfare incidents and technical errors from becoming an excuse to expand and internationalize the armed conflict.
Putin rejects Zelensky's call for a face-to-face meeting to end war
Politically, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ruled out meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky anytime soon, following the latter's call in a public and direct message for a summit meeting between the two presidents to end the four-year-old war between the two countries.
In remarks made from his hometown of St. Petersburg during the annual economic forum, Putin stressed that he sees no "use" in meeting with Zelensky at the moment, contingent on reaching real and comprehensive peace agreements, and pledging to proceed with military operations until Moscow's strategic objectives are fully achieved.
The Russian president said that the letter published by Zelensky, whom Putin was careful not to explicitly name and refer to as the "author of the letter", did not show an honest and serious offer to hold real talks, indicating that it contained blunt references, adding that Kyiv's only goal with this proposal is to push Russian forces to stop their advance on the ground. from both sides to start work first and formulate concrete solutions before moving to the stage of presidential meetings.
Ukrainian response accuses Moscow of weakness and adherence to war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the other hand, made it clear through his video speech that Putin's reaction to the initiative of the direct meeting proved to the whole world that the Russian leadership does not have the real desire to end the armed conflict.
Zelensky added that the Russian side chose war again by responding to what he described as "weak and disappointing" to many international parties who were looking for chances of calm and stability on the European continent.
On Thursday, Zelensky made a rare direct appeal to the Russian president in an official letter in which he proposed ending the war through a face-to-face dialogue between the two sides.
In his letter, which he sent in parallel to several countries, including the United States, the Ukrainian president noted that the majority of the Russian people are fed up with the repercussions of Ukrainian missile attacks and the targeting of drones, in addition to suffering from sharply high inflation rates and fuel shortages, and warned that the continuation of the conflict could threaten Putin's political standing inside Russia based on historical evidence that proves major political changes will occur as the Russian home front gets tired.