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The Croatian president criticized the delivery of tanks to Ukraine. Photos/Illustrations
ZAGREB – Croatia which is a member NATO criticizing Western countries for supplying Ukraine with heavy tanks and guns in his campaign against Russian troops. Croatia says the arms shipment will only prolong the war.
The criticism was delivered directly by the President of Croatia, Zoran Milovic. Milovic told reporters in the Croatian capital that it was “crazy” to believe Russia could be defeated in a conventional war.
“I am against sending lethal weapons there,” Milanovic said. “It prolongs the war,” he continued.
“What’s the point? Russian disintegration, change of government? There is also talk of tearing Russia apart. This is crazy,” he added as quoted from AP, Tuesday (31/1/2023).
Milanovic won the presidential election in Croatia in 2019 as a leftist liberal candidate, a counterpoint to the conservative governments currently in power in the European Union and NATO member states. But he has since turned to populist nationalism and criticized Western policies toward Russia and the Balkans.
Read: France Still Opens Opportunities to Send Fighter Jets to Ukraine
Milanovic has built a reputation for being pro-Russian, which he has repeatedly denied. But in recent months, he has publicly opposed Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO as well as the training of Ukrainian troops in Croatia as part of European Union aid to the embattled country.
On Monday, the Croatian president expanded his narrative by saying he believed that Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014, would never again be part of Ukraine.
After months of hesitation, the United States said it would send 31 70-ton Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, and Germany announced it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks and allow other countries to do the same.
“From 2014 to 2022, we witnessed how someone provoked Russia with the intention to start this war,” said Milanovic.
