President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after talks in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis on October 10 that the two sides discussed military aid for Ukraine, and that "there will soon be very good news about artillery and air defense." He also confirmed that a center for training Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 warplanes will be established in Romania.
"We agreed a future strategic partnership between Romania and Ukraine and we instructed our teams to prepare the basis of this document," Zelenskiy said at a news conference with Iohannis after signing a joint declaration with Iohannis during his first visit to Ukraine's NATO neighbor since the start of Russia's invasion.
"I thank the whole Romanian people for its backing and help for Ukraine. I will always remember how warmly our people were welcomed here. Romania gave us military and humanitarian aid," Zelenskiy said after talks with Iohannis at Cotroceni Palace.
Zelenskiy referred to "good agreements on weapons," saying that while he can't reveal everything now, "the shells are a plus, the air defense enhancement is a plus."
He said the pilot training center for the F-16 fighter jet is being created in Romania, and Ukrainian pilots will be among the first to be trained.
Zelenskiy also said more must be done to protect against Russian missile and drone that attacks that threaten the Black Sea area.
Since the collapse in July of a United Nations-brokered deal allowing the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments from Black Sea ports, Ukraine has used its Danube ports of Reni and Izmayil on the border with NATO member Romania to ship food to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta.
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"We agreed to double the transit capacity for Ukrainian grain through Romanian ports to 4 million tons," Iohannis announced.
Russia has launched several drone attacks on Reni and Izmayil, damaging port facilities and grain installations, while Russian drone fragments have landed on Romanian territory, unsettling those living in border areas even though there was no damage or injuries.
"Every Russian missile or drone that attacks our ports [threatens the Black Sea area]. We must do everything possible to prevent Russia from turning the Danube and Black Sea into a dead area," Zelenskiy said.
Iohannis in turn said Romania is backing Ukraine and Moldova's opening membership negotiations with the European Union by the end of this year.
Ukraine and Moldova were invited to open accession talks with the 27-member bloc in June 2022.
"I will personally plead for this at the European Council in December. It is a decision that will confirm the two countries' progresses despite extremely difficult conditions," Iohannis said.
Iohannis also said he assured Zelenskiy of Romania's determination to continue "multidimensional and consistent support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, including military support, for as long as it takes until victory against Russian aggression."
The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said 75 combat clashes took place during the day along the front line, adding in its evening summary on October 10 that the operational situation in the east and south of Ukraine "remains difficult."
The statement cited the situation near Avdiyivka, saying Russian forces intensified their offensive there. The General Staff said the Russians sent up to three battalions supported by tanks and armored vehicles into clashes in Avdiyivka, Pervomaisky, and other areas of the Donetsk region.
"Our defenders repelled all enemy attacks and did not allow the loss of lines and positions," the General Staff said.
Avdiyivka has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance as Kyiv's forces hold on in the face of relentless Russian attacks.
"Our Avdiyivka is under massive attacks by Russian artillery and aviation," presidential aide Andriy Yermak later said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter
Overnight, Ukrainian air defense shot down 26 Iranian-made drones launched by Russia on three southern regions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its earlier report on October 10.
"The Russian Federation carried out another air strike against Ukraine, using 36 Shahed-136/131 type attack UAVs. Twenty-six drones were destroyed by air-defense forces," the message said.
The Russian drones were launched against targets in the Odesa, Mykolayiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. There were unconfirmed reports of an explosion in the city of Odesa.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said unspecified "logistics infrastructure" had been hit.
On the battlefield, the Ukrainian military said it had repelled five Russian counterattacks in the northeastern Kharkiv region and in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
The General Staff said Ukrainian forces are continuing offensive operations in the Bakhmut area of Donetsk and in the Melitopol direction of the southern Zaporizhzhya region.
Since the start of their counteroffensive, Ukrainian troops have been attempting to retake Bakhmut, a town captured earlier this year by Russian forces after months of some of the bloodiest fighting in the war.
Ukrainian troops have also focused on reaching the city of Melitopol in an attempt to cut off a land bridge that links Moscow-occupied territory in the east to the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.