The foreign ministers of the Nordic countries, during the NATO summit in The Hague, called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine to pave the way for negotiations on a lasting and just peace. They emphasized that two things are needed for a quick ceasefire:
- Increased pressure on Russia’s military economy through a broad, coordinated package of sanctions
- Further support for Ukraine: Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have pledged to provide more than $15B in military aid to Ukraine this year.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged US President Donald Trump to apply the same determination in resolving the crisis in Ukraine and Gaza as he did with the Israel-Iran conflict.
On the sidelines of the NATO summit, President Zelenskyy met with leaders of the E5 countries: Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Poland and the NATO secretary general. “Strengthening Ukraine’s air shield is important, and first, today we talked about air defense systems and Iranian Shahed interceptors. We discussed pressure on Russia separately,” Zelenskyy said.
He also discussed increasing military support for Ukraine with leaders of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.