Niinistö estimates that no direct promises of arms aid to Ukraine can be expected from the summit.
The summit of the Council of Europe will unanimously state that peace is the most important thing for all people and that Ukraine will receive all possible support in fighting for peace, says the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö.
Niinistö spoke to Finnish journalists in connection with the Council of Europe meeting that started today in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.
According to Niinistö, there are 46 delegations. He reminded that the Council of Europe was founded right after the Second World War to emphasize human rights and legal order and to maintain democracy.
– Of course, now after decades, it is quite strange that we here in the same council are in a way in the middle of a war. But it is more important to stick to those principles. It will certainly be confirmed here many times, Niinistö said.
Niinistö estimates that no direct promises of arms aid to Ukraine can be expected from the summit.
– But all the spiritual support that is offered here is of course also a good basis for national decision-making regarding arms aid.
Niinistö said that he himself plans to pay special attention in Reykjavík to global development and to not getting things mixed up.
– Now it seems a bit like that in some countries the bitter experiences of history have been dug up as if combined with whether to support Ukraine or not, or whether to condemn Russia or not. They are completely separate things and that’s what I’m going to emphasize.
The Council of Europe summit to be held in Reykjavik is only the fourth in the history of the organization founded in 1949. The previous summit was organized in 2005 in Poland.
Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March 2022.