project in the region that would weaken the EU. Some of those objections have been partially addressed lately also due to a good experience with cooperation on infrastructure projects in the Visegrad group. Finland The populist Finns Party has advocated for Finland to join the initiative. Ukraine In August 2019, during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Poland, he stated that Ukraine is interested in becoming an active participant in regional projects and initiatives in Poland, such as the Three Seas, which covers the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. It was also noted that Ukraine is already cooperating in the construction of the trans-European Via Carpatia highway, and is discussing an ambitious E-40 waterway project for Ukraine." In October 2019, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Chaputowicz said that Ukraine could not now join the Three Seas Initiative, as it includes the countries of Central and Southern Europe, which are members of the European Union. The head of Polish diplomacy explained that the Three Seas Initiative should not be associated with geopolitics, as it is only an infrastructure project. In November 2019, during the visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Estonia, he stated that Ukraine is interested in joining the ITM and intends to discuss this issue with Estonian partners. After the start of the 2022 Russian invasion during the Russian-Ukrainian War, President of Poland Andrzej Duda in his address to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on May 22, 2022, stated that Ukraine should join the Three Seas Initiative. Later, on June 7, 2022, the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, at the opening of a two-day congress of local self-government in the Three Seas in Lublin, stated that the Three Seas Initiative is impossible without involving a free and sovereign Ukraine. At the seventh summit in Riga on June 20, 2022, speaking on video, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine should become a member of the Three Seas Initiative. Zelenskyy suggested strengthening the interpretation of cooperation within the Three Seas, emphasizing the importance of logistics. Speaking about cooperation in the energy sector, Zelenskyy reminded that Ukraine has one of the largest gas storage facilities in the region. At this summit Ukraine received the status of a partner-participant of the ITM, de facto becoming a participant in this initiative. See also Amber Road Association Trio Bucharest Nine Central European Defence Cooperation Cooperation between China