President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir signed a joint declaration during her working visit to Kyiv, the presidential press service has said.
According to the document, the leaders reaffirm their support for the principles of international law, the inviolability of borders, and their demand for Russia immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
The President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Iceland remain fully committed to the policy of non-recognition of Russia’s illegal annexation of the territories of Ukraine, and also call for the immediate release of all abducted civilians, including children, and all those who were forcibly transferred to the territory of Russia.
The declaration notes the importance of Ukraine’s consistent efforts of continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the Grain from Ukraine humanitarian program, Ukraine’s sovereign decision to guide the peace process and convene a global peace summit when conditions permit, and commitment to NATO’s Open Door Policy.
Condemning in the strongest possible terms Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy and Jakobsdóttir declare that Iceland fully subscribes to the European Union sanctions imposed against Russia in response to military aggression against Ukraine.
In turn, Ukraine highly appreciates all the help from Iceland.
It is noted that Iceland will continue to provide effective political, economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine and its defense capability. Iceland will assist in the recovery and rapid recovery of Ukraine, especially in the energy sector. Iceland will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Iceland and Ukraine will continue to work together, and with others within multilateral organizations, to ensure accountability, including through the establishment of special tribunal for the crime of aggression and a register of damages to record and document evidence and claims for damage, loss or injury as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, as a first step in setting up a comprehensive reparation mechanism.
The total budget of technical assistance projects to be implemented in Ukraine within the framework of the International Climate Initiative will amount to EUR 44.5 million, including both new projects and those planned to be launched before the war or whose work was temporarily suspended with the outbreak of hostilities.
According to the website of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine on Tuesday, such initiatives were discussed in Berlin during the meeting of the Ukrainian delegation headed by Deputy Minister Alexander Krasnolutsky with representatives of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection of Germany, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection of Germany, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Secretariat of the German Institute for International Cooperation.
German projects, in particular, will cover support for Ukraine in implementing the Paris Agreement and adaptation to the consequences of climate change in the Black Sea region, establishing an emissions trading system, forming a low emission policy, preserving forests in the Carpathians, and increasing Ukraine’s ability to overcome the consequences of war and integrate into the EU. In addition, they talked about Ukraine’s accession to the climate club, which is now being formed by the European Union.
In addition, the German government is ready to help Ukraine with the construction of rehabilitation centers for animals affected by war, which are envisaged in the plan for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
According to Krasnolutsky, Ukraine is striving to apply the best practices that exist today in Europe for its reconstruction and development.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko called on his European colleagues to support Ukraine’s candidacy for the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Energy Ministry reported in its Telegram channel on Monday that Galushchenko made such a proposal during an informal meeting of EU energy and transport ministers in Stockholm on February 27.
“The Energy Minister said that Ukraine is putting forward its candidacy for the IAEA Board of Governors for 2023-2025 and urged the meeting participants to join the discussion of this issue and support the Ukrainian application,” the ministry said.
The head of the Energy Ministry during the meeting thanked the EU representatives for the 10th package of sanctions against Russia and stressed the need to not only maintain the pressure on the aggressor, but also to extend it to all areas of the Russian energy sector, in particular the nuclear industry, the ministry said.
According to Galushchenko, the time has come to implement sanctions against Rosatom.
“It is time to go further and impose sanctions against Rosatom, which covers up the Russian regime’s nuclear terrorism and sponsors the Russian army. We welcome the decision by Finland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic to refuse to cooperate with Russia in the nuclear industry and call on other partners to take this step,” the minister said.
According to the IAEA, the Board of Governors is one of the agency’s two governing bodies along with the annual general conference of the IAEA member states.
The Council reviews the IAEA’s financial statements, program and budget and makes recommendations on them to the general conference. It reviews applications for membership in the agency, approves safeguards agreements, and publishes the IAEA’s safety standards. It also appoints the Agency’s Director General, who is approved by the General Conference.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has thanked UN member states for extensive support for the Ukrainian resolution “Principles of the UN Charter that underpin a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine,” which was adopted the night before.
“The General Assembly expressed strong support for the importance of restoring a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine based on the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. We welcome that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s vision for peace in Ukraine, as proposed in the Ukrainian Peace Formula, is clearly reflected in the resolution adopted today,” reads the commentary released Thursday evening.
The Foreign Ministry noted that the General Assembly reaffirmed its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, which extend to its territorial waters, and identified further steps to end Russian aggression, restore peace and the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the global
“The resolution renews Russia’s call for the immediate withdrawal of all troops from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and the cessation of hostilities,” the office stressed.
It also said that an important outcome was that the UN recognized the need to guarantee accountability for crimes under international law committed on the territory of Ukraine.
“We thank the UN member states for the large-scale support of the Ukrainian resolution, which will be an important step towards further implementation of the Formula of peace President Vladimir Zelensky to restore peace and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” – said in the Foreign Ministry.
As reported, on Thursday, February 23, in the renewed 11th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Russian aggression against Ukraine, 141 states voted “FOR” the resolution initiated by Ukraine “Principles of the UN Charter underlying the comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine”.
Head of the Office of the President Andrey Yermak in a telephone conversation discussed with Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the US President, further support for Ukraine as it approaches the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Presidential Press Service reported.
“The two sides discussed the strong support the United States will continue to provide to Ukraine as the anniversary of the war approaches, and also noted the importance of our continued communication,” the statement said.
Also, the head of the Office of the President informed the American side about the current situation on the front.
Additionally, Yermak thanked the American people, the US president and both houses of Congress for supporting Ukraine.
Newly-elected Czech President Petr Pavel assured his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky of continued support for Ukraine and thanked him for his congratulations on the results of the recent presidential election.
“I thank President Vladimir Zelensky for his congratulations on the results of the presidential election and his invitation to visit Kiev,” Pavel wrote on his Twitter microblog.
He noted that “during our phone conversation today, I assured him that Ukraine can continue to count on the support of the Czech Republic.”
As reported, Zelensky congratulated Petr Pavel on his victory in the Czech presidential election and invited him to visit Ukraine.
Former chairman of the NATO Military Committee Petr Pavel on Saturday won the second round of presidential elections in the Czech Republic. After all ballots were counted, he received more than 58.3 percent of the vote. The inauguration is scheduled for March 9.
