Council of Europe summit starts in Iceland

GENEVA

Leaders across Europe on Tuesday gathered in Iceland for the Summit of the Council of Europe, which will mainly focus on the war in Ukraine.

In her opening remarks, Iceland's Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir expressed respect for Ukraine's determination to resist and reiterated Europe's commitment to stand with Kyiv.

Jakobsdottir called on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine "as the first steps towards ending this war."

Underlining the fourth edition of the summit has three main objectives, she said: "First, to reaffirm our support for Ukraine to adopt concrete measures to address accountability for war crimes, and to strengthen the Council of Europe's role as a leading human rights organization."

"Second, to renew in general terms our commitment to the democratic human rights values that our societies are based on, and that must be nurtured and protected," she said.

She added that as a last point, the summit aims to recommit to the values Europe seeks to meet pressing global challenges.

"We are here to discuss problems that need urgent action, and let us make the most of this opportunity," she stated before giving the floor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Addressing the summit virtually, Zelenskyy once again underlined the need for additional air defense systems and reserves and said that his country needs "more than fighter jets."

He also thanked all the countries and leaders who helped Kyiv to improve its defense, especially air defense.

"We are Europeans, so we are free," he said. "We are Europeans, so we act at 100% of our strengths when it comes to protecting our way of life."

"Let this be forever the rules of our continent," he concluded.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, for her part, said that demanding accountability for Russia’s war crimes will be "an important focus" of the summit.

"We will do everything possible so that Ukraine wins the peace," von der Leyen said and emphasized that Europe "will do nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."

She concluded by saying that Europe will stand by Ukraine's side in this "common fight" for "as long as it takes."

'UK left EU but not Europe'

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed UK's commitment to be part of Europe and said leaving the bloc does not change that reality.

The world is becoming "more contested and more volatile," with Russia's war and China's growth, Sunak told the summit.

"The challenge to our values is growing and the moment to push back is now. Democracies like ours must build resilience so that we can out cooperate and out compete those who drive instability," he said, explaining that is why the UK is working "so closely with our friends across Europe."

"The United Kingdom may have left the EU, but we have not left Europe. We remain a proud European nation," he said.

The two-day summit will continue on Wednesday with a general debate and a press conference following the closing session.