Ukraine’s President and Iceland’s PM sign a joint declaration

At a meeting in Kyiv Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir discussed the situation on the frontlines of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Ukrainian Peace Formula implementation, Ukraine’s recovery progress and prospects and other issues, according to the President of Ukraine’s official website.

The meeting wound up in the signing of a joint declaration, reaffirming the parties’ “support for the principles of international law, the inviolability of borders, and the right for each state to choose its own path and security arrangements.”

Zelenskyy thanked Jakobsdóttir for Reykjavik’s active support of Ukraine since the first days of the full-scale Russian aggression and support of Ukrainians who were forced to leave their home country because of the war.

“I’m grateful to your government and people, to all Icelanders for their support. And I’d like to convey this message to your society and parliamentarians. We appreciate that you are helping us politically and financially in the humanitarian and other areas,” said the Ukrainian president.

He noted the active position of Iceland as the state holding the presidency of the Council of Europe. In this context, the parties discussed efforts to bring Russia to justice for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression committed in Ukraine. Attention was also paid to the measures taken to create a register of damages caused by Russian aggression and a full-fledged compensation mechanism, in particular in the context of preparations for the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe scheduled for May 16-17 in Reykjavik.

The parties also touched upon the issue of nuclear security deliberately jeopardized by Russia’s attacks on civilian nuclear facilities in Ukraine and seizure of the Zaporizhya Nuclear Power Plant. It was stated that this situation poses a direct nuclear threat far beyond Ukraine.

Zelenskyy also stressed that it would be important if the Parliament of Iceland recognized the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people. It was noted that official Reykjavik had already taken the first steps toward such recognition.

According to European Pravda, Jakobsdóttir said Zelenskyy had confirmed his participation in the Council of Europe’s summit – the fourth in the Council’s history – but it’s not clear if he will come to Reykjavik in person.