In a speech addressing the Helsinki+50 Conference on Thursday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western countries to intensify pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
"We need to fully block Russia's war machine, cut off its arms industry, limit its energy profits and finally put every frozen Russian asset including the stolen wealth of corruption to work — defending against Russian aggression. It's time to confiscate Russian assets, not just freeze them, confiscate them and use them to serve peace, not war," Zelensky said via a remote video feed.
The Ukrainian president said he is "grateful to everyone applying sanctions against Russia and preparing new ones."
He particularly thanked Finnish President Alexander Stubb for standing with Ukraine and for helping "build a connection with US President Donald Trump".
"President Trump is truly interested in ending the war and we have to do everything we can to make sure the United States and Europe act together for security," Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president also urged European countries to remain united and act in line with the "Helsinki spirit" spawned half a century ago, referring to the anniversary of the 1975 CSCE Helsinki Accords, held at the same venue, Finlandia House.
"If we look back at the choice made in Helsinki 50 years ago, it was also a choice for life, not war," he said,
During that pivotal Cold War meeting, the US and then-USSR leaders sat down to discuss their issues in Helsinki, resulting in an easing of the tensions between the two superpowers.
The group has since been renamed the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) — the world’s largest security-focused intergovernmental organisation, comprising 57 participating states and 11 partner countries. Finland currently serves as the OSCE chair.
The foreign ministry posted a live stream of the conference on YouTube.
Stubb addresses global conflicts
At the opening of the conference, President Alexander Stubb noted the OSCE's history, and how it relates to modern conflicts around the world.
Stubb said Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine violates OSCE principles and "challenges the European traditions of democracy and the rule of law in their entirety", Stubb said, according to a transcript from the president’s office.
"The threshold for the use of force has become lower and the line between war and peace has become increasingly blurred," Stubb said.
President Stubb also addressed global conflicts and called for defending a rules-based international order.
"The civilians in Gaza, Sudan and many other places are paying too high a price for this breakdown in the rules-based world order. We must also defend the multilateral order and rules and principles established globally, not only here in Europe," he said.
According to Stubb, the conference, with wide participation from various NGOs, reflected Finland's dedication to strengthening European security on multiple fronts. Stubb emphasised that citizens and civil society representatives play a crucial role in shaping the future of European security.
The most recent episode of All Points North travelled back in time to hear what it was really like when Finland played host to East and West. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.'
