Leaders of the Nordic countries on Wednesday vowed to continue political, financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Presidents of Finland and Ukraine and the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden issued a joint statement from the Nordic-Ukrainian Summit held in Helsinki where they also demanded that Russia must immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
“The Nordic countries will continue their political, financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes – individually, together as the Nordics, as well as through international cooperation in the European Union, in NATO, in the United Nations and in other formats,” the statement said.
In the joint statement Ukraine and the Nordic countries underlined their firm commitment to bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes and other atrocity crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
“The Nordic countries welcome on-going international efforts, in co-operation with Ukraine, to ensure accountability through the establishment of an appropriate mechanism (a special tribunal) for prosecuting the crime of aggression,” said the statement.
Therefore, while participating in the Core Group on achieving accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, the Nordic countries encourage other countries to join and to build international support for the creation of a tribunal, said the statement.
“The Nordic countries welcome the agreement on the new International Centre for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague, and look forward to its launch as soon as possible,” said the statement, adding that Ukraine and the Nordic countries reiterate their support for the investigations of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, which are a step towards accountability, and have taken note of the court’s arrest warrants.
the Nordic countries have made solid and robust military contributions to Ukraine, donating a variety of weapons systems, including high-value air defence systems, Leopard main battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, and artillery systems and munitions.
“The combined value of national Nordic military assistance packages issued to Ukraine so far since February 2022 is approximately 4.4 billion euros. This military support continues, as new packages are being prepared, constantly taking into account the most urgent and immediate needs of Ukraine to strengthen its defence capabilities. The US-led Ukraine Defence Contact Group (the so-called Ramstein Group) is an important coordination forum for these international efforts,” the statement added.
Beyond the military assistance, all Nordic countries have provided Ukraine with civilian assistance, including financial, humanitarian and emergency support. The combined value of these national Nordic measures since February 2022 already exceeds 1.5 billion euros and will continue to grow.
“Ukraine and the Nordic countries agree on the need to increase our collective pressure on Russia through further sanctions to weaken Russia’s ability to continue its illegal war of aggression. Efforts to ensure the effective implementation of sanctions and to prevent and counter circumvention in and by third countries must be strengthened,” said the statement.
Ukraine and the Nordic countries will continue to work together with others to develop mechanisms to provide compensation for losses, injuries and damages caused by the Russian aggression. To this end, the international register of damage, to be presented at the Reykjavik Summit of the Council of Europe on 16-17 May 2023, is an important milestone. Our efforts will continue to explore appropriate options for the financing of a compensation mechanism, including a sound legal basis for the use of frozen and immobilized Russian assets, to support Ukraine’s reconstruction and for the purposes of reparation.
The Nordic NATO members will continue to support Ukraine on its path towards future membership of the military alliance.
“Already before membership, the security of Ukraine is of great importance to the Alliance. Ukraine and the Nordic NATO countries look forward to addressing these issues at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July 2023. The Nordic countries continue their strong support to bolster Ukraine’s capacity to defend itself,” the statement added.
Hosted by President Sauli Niinistö, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen and Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir took part in the summit.
“An honour to host the Nordic-Ukrainian Summit today ( Wednesday) in Helsinki. Our joint message is the strong, continued and unwavering support for Ukraine. Ukraine’s initiative for a just and sustainable peace has our full support,” Niinistö wrote in a twitter post after the summit.
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- Ukraine
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Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
