Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed in Kiev on Wednesday a joint declaration on Ukraine's European prospect, yet another element in Zagreb's support to a country under constant Russian pressure.

“This declaration is just a concretisation of what we have been doing for years,” Plenkovic said. “We are one of those countries which pushes for Ukraine’s European perspective and we support its European reform processes.”

That is also the best path for raising the quality of living for Ukrainians and for aligning the legal system and the fundamental principles of the social market economy, he added.

After Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia, Croatia is the sixth country to have signed the declaration.

Zelensky thanked Croatia, saying he appreciates Croatia’s support for Euro-Atlantic integration and participation in the Crimea Platform, an international format established to enhance the effectiveness of the international response to the annexation of Crimea.

Plenkovic said his meetings with Ukraine’s state leaders today showed that the relations between the two peoples and countries were friendly and close.

The date of his visit was chosen carefully to be close to 11 December, when Ukraine recognised Croatia. “We in Croatia appreciate that fact very much,” he said.

Plenkovic and Zelensky talked about how Ukraine could use Croatia’s experience in peaceful reintegration. A group set up in 2016, when Plenkovic first visited officially as prime minister, is working on that.

Plenkovic was accompanied by a large economic delegation. In the last five years, trade between the two countries has doubled and there is a lot of room to intensify it further.

There are plans to adopt a decision to open a Croatian Tourist Board office in Kiev, which is an additional step in the cooperation, said Plenkovic.

Asked about yesterday’s talks between presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, Plenkovic and Zelensky were agreed that they were a positive step.

Zelensky hopes a solution will be found to the crisis in east Ukraine, saying there are three important issues – a ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners, and opening transport points so people can move before the holidays.

Plenkovi also met with the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as flowers at the Holodomor memorial.

Tomorrow he will attend a Ukraine-Croatia economic forum at which more than 300 participants are expected.