section_path: Political positions/Russia and Ukraine
section_name: Russia and Ukraine
paragraph_text: Russia and Ukraine
  
  In a December 2020 interview to Radio Europa Liberă România, during the chancellorship of Angela Merkel, Simion warned about external influences on Romania, particularly from Russia, describing the "friendship" between Russia and Germany as a danger to Romania. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Simion called Russian president Vladimir Putin a war criminal and said that international sanctions against Russia "were not enough".
  
  On 18 November 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine imposed a three-year entry ban on Simion for "systematic anti-Ukrainian activities". Simion refuted these allegations, asserting that his prohibition was due to his "pro-Romanian activities" and advocacy for the rights of the Romanian minority in Ukraine. On 22 November 2024, following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, Simion expressed opposition to additional military aid to Ukraine, aligning with Trump's stances and advocated for a negotiated end to Russo-Ukrainian War, which had escalated following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
  
  In March 2025, Simion elaborated to the Financial Times:
  
  " Putin's Russia was and is one of the biggest threats for the European states, especially for us, for the Baltic states and for Poland ". We need unity, but not just in Europe: also between Europe and the United States, we need the same approach"
  
  In May 2025, Simion stated that he did not believe Russia was a significant threat to NATO, as "Russia doesn't have the potential to represent a significant threat to the biggest military alliance in the world", stating that the only risk to the eastern flank of NATO was the alliance's own dismantling.