Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy will be present at a one-day Nordic Summit in Helsinki today. During the summit, Zelenskyy will also attend bilateral meetings with the prime ministers of the four guest countries, including Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
Discussing Russia’s “war of aggression in Ukraine”
Earlier this morning, the Office of the President of the Republic of Finland announced that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy would attend a one-day Nordic-Ukrainian summit, as hosted by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö at the president’s residence.
As noted by Mbl.is, Selenskyy’s arrival in Finland has been shrouded in secrecy, which has inspired extensive security measures in Helsinki. The summit will be attended by President Niinistö and President Zelenskyy, as well as 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.
As noted in the press release, the leaders will discuss “Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the Nordic countries’ continued support for Ukraine, the developments in Ukraine’s relationship with EU and NATO, and Ukraine’s initiative for a just peace. These official discussions will be followed by a joint press conference. The Nordic Prime ministers will also have bilateral meetings with President Zelenskyy.”
Finnish President Niinistö will have his first meeting with Zelensky before noon.
Finland’s first meeting with fellow nations as a NATO member
As noted by RÚV, the summit is noteworthy not only in light of Zelensky’s attendance – but also because Finland is now talking to its fellow nations for the first time as an official NATO member. Finland joined NATO on April 4, and with that the alliance’s border with Russia more than doubled.
Sweden remains the only attendee who remains outside NATO; Sweden applied for membership, alongside Finland, after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Two weeks until the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavík
As previously reported, there are less than two weeks until the summit of the Council of Europe will be held in Reykjavík. It remains to be seen whether Zelenskyy will attend.
It’s also been about a month and a half since PM Katrín Jakobsdóttir, alongside Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, attended a meeting with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. At the end of the visit, Katrín stated, among other things, that she had discussed what could be achieved with the summit in Reykjavík.
