After Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said in Tuesday he was opposed to the idea of Ukrainian soldiers being trained in Croatia, announcing he would veto such a decision as "it is not in Croatia's interests," Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman slammed him on Wednesday, saying Milanovic is "protecting private Russian interests" and is isolated among European leaders.

Grlic-Radman called the president’s statements “disturbing” and “insane”, saying they show his desire to topple the government, “which he will not be allowed to do.”

The foreign minister said that Milanovic’s statements show that the president “is protecting private Russian and his own interests.” He added that these interests date back to Milanovic’s premiership “when, because of his involvement and his connections, he became a prisoner of such a policy.”

Grlic-Radman said that Milanovic is not contributing to the understanding of the situation in Ukraine and that he remains “isolated” among EU and NATO leaders. While the whole world condemns the Russian aggression against Ukraine, President Milanovic seems to be on the Russian side, he added.

By contrast, Croatia sympathises with Ukraine because Ukraine sympathised with Croatia at the time of its 1991-1995 war, the foreign minister said.

Grlic-Radman announced that representatives of parliaments and senior officials from more than the 40 richest countries in the world are coming to Croatia next week to show unity in the condemnation of the Russian aggression.

The first Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimean Platform, organised by the Croatian parliament and Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, is taking place in Zagreb on 24 and 25 October.