Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic called out President Zoran Milanovic on Thursday for undermining Croatia's reputation and credibility, and said the government distanced itself from his views on the Ukraine situation.

Milanovic’s statements “are damaging for Croatia’s reputation and shameful,” he said at a cabinet meeting. “They lead to big disappointment, I’d say indignation, among our partners, from the Unites States to NATO member states, European Union member states, our neighbours.”

Plenkovic said it seemed that every important ambassador would be summoned due to Milanovic’s statements. “That’s bad, it’s scandalous, it undermines Croatia’s reputation and credibility. It’s in total opposition to the Croatian government’s principled foreign policy positions, not just on Ukraine but many other countries.”

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned Croatian Ambassador Anica Dzamić to protest against Milanović’s recent statements, which were applauded in Russia.

Milanovic said earlier this week that Croatia would not get involved in the crisis in any way in the event of its escalation and that it would not deploy its troops there. He also said Ukraine did not belong in NATO and that the EU instigated the 2014 “coup d’etat” in Ukraine at which pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown.

Plenkovic reiterated today that the Croatian government’s stand was “to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, to respect international law principles, to advocate peace, conflict de-escalation, defusing tensions, and to contribute to international community efforts, whether through the various existing formats or through our activities in NATO, the EU or other organisations.”

He denied that sending troops to Ukraine was being considered, saying that it was not on the agenda of any international organisation.