President Nicușor Dan said in a Bloomberg interview published on Friday, 16 October 2026, that Romania and Europe would continue to support Ukraine until the end of the war and then in reconstruction. The interview was given in Brussels, ahead of the European Council. The pledge is a political position, not a new aid package voted in the interview.

Asked what Europe can do for Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid reports of a deteriorated relationship with Donald Trump, Dan said the signal had to be continuity of support. A conversation with the Ukrainian president was due, “as usual”, on winter, energy and financing. “Ukraine is not only a matter of international law, but a matter of Europe’s own security,” he added.

On whether drones in the recent Black Sea attacks were Russian, he said “we cannot say technically now that they are Russian”. He distinguished that from incidents on the Danube Delta border, where, he said, hundreds of aerial drones entered Romanian territory and a large share of the fragments can be said to have Russian components. That is a technical distinction, not a judicial finding.

According to the president, Russia is attacking a naval corridor used by Ukraine to move grain towards the Bosphorus. Asked whether Romania would trigger NATO Article 4 if the drones proved Russian, he did not announce a procedure. He spoke of growing pressure and of events in the Baltic states and Poland meant, in his reading, to reduce public support for Ukraine.

The answer, he said, had to be the same: continued support. He noted that Romania is, on the maritime frontier, in a situation similar to last year’s on the Danube, when it asked allies for capabilities until SAFE-ordered equipment arrives. He said he was optimistic support would come. This account does not repeat Friday evening’s announcement of a French equipment offer.

On relations with the United States, Dan called them “very good”, with a long-standing strategic partnership. He mentioned “the largest base on the Black Sea” and US interest in projecting force towards the Middle East or the Eastern Mediterranean. He did not announce a change in the base’s status.

The interview was carried by Agerpres. Bloomberg is the primary source of the quotes; RFI relayed the agency. No secondary write-up replaces the interview text.

Image: European Council Newsroom, Nicușor Dan and António Costa at Cotroceni Palace, 3 September 2025, Wikimedia Commons. Not the Bloomberg interview of 16 October 2026.

Sources consulted: Nicușor Dan, Bloomberg interview: We will continue to support Ukraine; Russia is exerting growing pressure — RFI; President Dan to Bloomberg: We will continue to support Ukraine as Russia increases pressure — AGERPRES.