The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky tried on Wednesday to win the support of the Balkan countries for his vision of peace in his country and promoted the idea of ​​joint production of weapons, at the two-day summit of the countries of the south-eastern Europe hosted in Tirana.

The meeting comes at a time when Kiev is trying to improve its defense capabilities to push back Russian forces, and while aid from the USA is slow to be approved by Congress, two years after the Russian invasion.

“We are interested in co-production (of weapons) with you and all our partners,” Zelensky said in his speech, addressing the delegations of Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Moldova and Romania. “There are about 500 defense industry companies operating in Ukraine, and each of them adds strength, but they are not enough to beat Putin. We see the problems with ammunition supply, which affects the situation on the battlefield,” he added.

Zelensky suggested organizing a Ukrainian-Balkan defense forum, either in Kiev or in a Balkan capitalto promote cooperation in arms production. He made similar proposals last year to British and American arms and ammunition companies.

Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Romania are NATO members, implement Western sanctions against Russia and have sent weapons and equipment to Ukraine. There are also significant defense industries in some Balkan countries, such as Serbia and Croatia, legacies of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia, a longtime ally of Russia, has not imposed sanctions on Moscow.

When asked how Serbia would respond to Zelenskiy’s proposal that Ukraine and the Balkan states create a forum for joint ammunition production, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic replied that “Serbia it needs to create its own platform for conversations. We follow our own policy and I’m proud of that.”

The joint declaration signed by 10 countries at the summit says their leaders are ready to attend the Swiss peace summit this spring to discuss Zelensky’s peace proposal. The initiative of the Ukrainian president, who envisages the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from all Ukrainian territories, has already been rejected by Moscow.

On the sidelines of the summit, Zelenskiy held talks and signed an Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

At the press conference held by Zelensky, he said that every minute that arms deliveries to Ukraine are delayedit is a “gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The other leaders reiterated their support for Kiev, saying in their declaration that they are ready “to participate in the post-war recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.”