Carpathian Summit Opens in Ukraine with Calls for Regional Unity and Resilience
Ukraine hosted the first Carpathian Summit, where leaders called for deeper regional cooperation on transport, energy and resilience against Russian threats.
European leaders gathered in western Ukraine on Friday for the inaugural Carpathian Summit, using the platform to press for closer regional coordination on infrastructure, defence and economic growth.
The meeting, held in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, brought together Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary, with the European Union also taking part.
Hosting the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Carpathian region should become a major driver of economic growth, investment and energy exports. He argued that Moscow is orienting its policy toward prolonged confrontation with a united Europe, while the peoples of the region want the opposite.
Zelenskyy called for faster modernisation of roads and railways, greater capacity to move large volumes of goods, and improved military mobility to strengthen defence capabilities. He described the region as having many practical tasks that require constant coordination.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said one possible outcome of the summit could be support for efforts to strengthen resilience in both social and infrastructural dimensions. He pointed to Russian hostilities reaching infrastructure near the borders of the European Union and NATO, citing a drone attack on September 13 near the Polish border at the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing.
Tusk said such threats must be limited and eliminated by continuing to pressure Russia to end the war, adding that peace would not come from concessions but from increasing the cost of the war for Moscow.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described the initiative as important for his country, saying Serbia had previously relied on the territory of the former Yugoslavia and looked westward, which he said was a mistake. He expressed confidence that expanding relationships within the wider Carpathian region would carry significant meaning.
The summit comes as U.S.-mediated efforts to end Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fourth and a half year, have stalled. Territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine remain among the central sticking points, and Kyiv is also seeking security guarantees from partners as part of any deal.
Among the participating nations, Poland and Romania have been staunch supporters of Ukraine, while Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia have declined to provide direct military assistance to Kyiv.