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Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone conversation on Monday on priority topics for the bilateral Strategic Partnership, namely in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine and the endeavors to combat its effects, a Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES shows.
The dialogue also took place in the preparation of the 8th round of the Strategic Dialogue between Romania and the US, that shall be hosted by Romania mid-March, in Bucharest.
In the context in which one year has passed since the start of Russia's aggression war against Ukraine, minister Aurescu and secretary of state Blinken discussed about the profound global effects of the war, as well as joint steps taken in order to counteract its effects. The head of the Romanian diplomacy reviewed the comprehensive and multidimensional support granted to this state by Romania since the beginning of the war.
The US secretary of state thanked minister Aurescu for the concrete, particularly substantial and essential support granted by Romania to Ukraine.
At the level of regional security, the two officials highlighted the stake of continuing concrete and consistent strengthening of the Eastern Flank of NATO, and minister Bogdan Aurescu conveyed the appreciation for US' commitment to defend the entire Allied territory, including the Black Sea region and Romania, expressed also on the occasion of the Bucharest 9 meeting in Warsaw.
The two heads of diplomacies also tackled the possibilities to strengthen resilience in the Black Sea region through a strategic approach which can ensure, in a sustainable manner, the free, safe and prosperous character of the Black Sea and to consolidate its status as a major trade and energy route.
Bogdan Aurescu mentioned the importance of the future US Strategy for the Black Sea and the necessity to ensure its synergy with the regional strategies of the EU and NATO, evoking Romania's assessments and ideas in this regard, which were conveyed to secretary of state Blinken through a consistent reflection document, on the occasion of the November 2022 visit to Bucharest. The Romanian minister informed his US counterpart about his proposal, agreed with his Turkish counterpart in December, to create a Romanian-Turkish bilateral working group on security in the Black Sea, which is in the process of operationalization, an initiative appreciated by the US side.
Furthermore, minister Aurescu also underscored the strategic relevance of the infrastructure projects promoted within the Three Seas Initiative and highlighted that Romania will host in September, in Bucharest, the Summit and the Business Forum of the Three Seas, a paramount moment for the further development of the Initiative.
The head of the Romanian diplomacy underscored the major impact which Russia's aggression war against Ukraine also has over the Republic of Moldova and reaffirmed Romania's firm, continuous and unconditional support for the Republic of Moldova to strengthen its resilience and security, and its European path.
In this context, he reaffirmed the firm condemnation of Russia's threatening and provocative rhetoric, as well as the recent destabilization attempts, pointing out that the US support remains essentially at this level. In his turn, the US secretary of state emphasized the determination of the US to support the Republic of Moldova in the current difficult context. He also brought to mind the US decision to allocate 300 million USD to support the energy security of the Republic of Moldova, including the energy and cross-border interconnection infrastructure.
Equally, the two officials addressed China-Russia and Iran-Russia relations in the context of Russia's illegal war against Ukraine and highlighted the need for the international community to discourage any support given to Russia's war effort. In this context, the Romanian Foreign minister mentioned the latest EU sanctions packages for Iran, also supported by Romania.
Minister Aurescu reiterated the priority importance of including Romania in the Visa Waiver Programme of the US and "the Romanian side's interest in working closely with the US so that our country joins this programme, the US secretary of state reiterating the strong and concrete commitment of the US for this common Romanian-US objective."
