Zagreb is hosting the first Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform on Tuesday, billed as "the largest event in the history of the Croatian Parliament."

Attending will be 42 delegations from 32 countries. Five countries — Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland and Romania — will be represented by the speakers of both chambers of parliament.

They will be addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky via videolink.

Among those attending will be the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi. On Monday, she is due to meet with Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic and address the press.

Pelosi will be the highest US official to visit Croatia since 2015 when the then Vice President Joe Biden visited the country.

Also present will be representatives of the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Eleven countries have confirmed their participation by video message, including France, Hungary, Japan and Canada.

Serbia, the only European country besides Belarus that is refusing to impose sanctions on Russia over its military aggression against Ukraine, has been invited but has not responded to the invitation.

The summit starts on Tuesday morning with opening remarks by Speaker of the Croatian Sabor Gordan Jandroković and his Ukrainian counterpart, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk. Those gathered will then be addressed by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will speak via videolink.

The summit is expected to end with a joint statement, and Jandrokovic and Stefanchuk are scheduled to hold a joint press conference.

Ukraine itself expressed a wish for Croatia to host the historic Parliamentary Summit given the war in Ukraine and the partnership between Kyiv and Zagreb, the Croatian Parliament said.

The Crimea Platform coordinates the international response to the Russian annexation of Crimea and other security challenges. Its inaugural summit was held in Kyiv in 2021, and another one took place in a virtual format in August this year. Both were held at the level of heads of state or government.

The summit in Zagreb will establish the parliamentary dimension of the Crimea Platform.