President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as part of his participation in the Ukraine-Balkans summit in Athens, met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, the presidential press service said.

The president spoke about the situation on the battlefield, the offensive steps of the Ukrainian army and the problems it faces. He also briefed the interlocutor about the preparation of the Ukrainian energy system and air defense for the autumn-winter period. In addition, Zelenskyy reported on Russia's illegal blocking of shipping in the Black Sea and massive Russian missile strikes on Ukraine's port infrastructure, which threaten world food security.

"Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to continue to be a guarantor of global food security and is interested in finding new ways of supplying food to world markets, one of which could be Croatia. The Croatian side confirmed its readiness to provide ports on the Danube and the Adriatic Sea for transporting Ukrainian grain.," the office said.

The parties also discussed geopolitical and other challenges caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine and coordinated steps for further cooperation in the international arena.

Zelenskyy separately noted the importance of the Croatian experience in humanitarian demining and thanked for the practical assistance and leadership of Croatia in demining Ukrainian territories. The importance of holding the International Donor Conference on Humanitarian Demining to be held in October in Zagreb was noted.

The president also thanked Croatia and the Croatian people for their special care for IDPs from Ukraine.