The Nordic NATO member countries will continue to support Ukraine on its way to the Alliance, according to a joint statement by the Presidents of Finland and Ukraine, the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, signed during the Summit of the Nordic Countries and Ukraine, which was held in Helsinki.

“At the Bucharest Summit in 2008, allies agreed that Ukraine will become a NATO member. NATO’s Open Door policy is firmly grounded in the Washington treaty. Ukraine formally requested an accelerated procedure for NATO membership in September 2022. The Nordic NATO members will continue to support Ukraine on its path towards future membership,” the text of the document reads.

It is noted that already before membership, the security of Ukraine is of great importance to the Alliance. In this connection, Ukraine and the Nordic NATO countries look forward to addressing these issues at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July 2023.

The Nordic countries will continue their political, financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine for as long as it takes – individually, together as the Nordics, as well as through international cooperation in the European Union, in NATO, in the United Nations and in other formats.

The summit participants confirmed that Russia must immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

The Nordic countries stand ready to cooperate with Ukraine to ensure as wide an international participation as possible in the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula and in a Global Peace Summit.

Also, the documents says that Ukraine and the Nordic countries underline their firm commitment to bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes and other atrocity crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In this regard, the Nordic countries are calling on others to enlist international support for the creation of a Special Tribunal.

In addition, the participants intend to continue to work together with others to develop mechanisms to provide compensation for losses, injuries and damages caused by the Russian aggression. To this end, the international register of damage, to be presented at the Reykjavik Summit of the Council of Europe on 16-17 May 2023, is an important milestone.

The document says that Ukraine and the Nordic countries agree on the need to increase our collective pressure on Russia through further sanctions to weaken Russia’s ability to continue its illegal war of aggression.

Finally, the Nordic countries, together with international organizations and partners, intend to participate in the restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, and will also strongly support Ukraine in its efforts to carry out reforms and in meeting the requirements necessary for the early start of negotiations on EU accession.