Romania's Defense Minister resigns over Ukraine war policy

Romanian Defence Minister Vasile Dincu resigned on Monday saying that he could not collaborate with the country's President Klaus Iohannis over the war in Ukraine.

Earlier reported by local media, Dincu said the only path to ending the war lay through negotiations with Russia.

Iohannis responded that the official position of Romania and the European Union was that it was up to Ukraine to decide whether and when to negotiate, the report added.

Dincu posted his resignation on Facebook, referring to the "impossibility of cooperation with the Romanian president, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces."

Dincu is a member of the country's powerful Social Democratic Party (PSD) within the ruling grand coalition.