Diplomat Foreign Desk
Stockholm: DD, The Nordic-Baltic leaders i.e., Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Ukraine, issued a joint statement.
As per the statement, “We – the leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight – reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s continued illegal war of aggression. We are proud to stand together with President Zelenskyy in Copenhagen today.”
They said that Putin does not want peace. We have clearly seen that in the past weeks. And we have seen it many times before. Ukraine is ready to negotiate. It is ready to enter into an unconditional and full ceasefire. Russia has so far not committed to a ceasefire or any steps leading to it. Russia continues to find excuses to delay, while escalating its brutal and indiscriminate use of violence, including with deliberate strikes against civilians in Ukraine. Russia poses a long term threat, not only to Ukraine but to the security of Europe, the transatlantic community, and the wider international order.
“We will step up military support to Ukraine. We underline the urgent need to accelerate the delivery of weapons, ammunition, and air defence systems. In this regard, we support a newly created PURL initiative to finance high-priority American weapons for Ukraine. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with other countries. We reaffirm that only Ukraine can decide on its own future,” the statement reads.
The statement says a just and lasting peace requires robust and credible security guarantees for Ukraine. We are committed to advancing work on a framework of sustainable security guarantees, developed in close cooperation with the United States and our European and other partners. We further support Ukraine being firmly anchored in the Euro-Atlantic community. Russia has no veto over Ukraine’s pathway to the EU and NATO.
Russia’s growing cooperation with North Korea and Iran and increasingly close ties, including military, with China impacts not only Russia’s war against Ukraine. It has also broader consequences for global security. If we allow Russia to succeed in Ukraine, others may follow the same path of military aggression, it further states.
They adds that this moment demands a stronger collective response. We call for the swift adoption and rigorous enforcement of further sanctions, including further restrictive measures against enablers of Russian sanctions circumvention in third countries. When Europe and the United States act together, we can achieve real and lasting results. Sanctions must strike deeper into Russia’s war economy, target the networks that sustain it, and make clear that aggression comes at an ever-higher cost.DD