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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Arrives in Finland to Meet Nordic Leaders

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Helsinki, Finland May 3, 2023. (Reuters)
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Helsinki, Finland May 3, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Arrives in Finland to Meet Nordic Leaders

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Helsinki, Finland May 3, 2023. (Reuters)
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Helsinki, Finland May 3, 2023. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Finland on Wednesday for talks with Nordic leaders on support for his country's war with Russia and on its relations with Europe, governments of the region said.

Zelenskiy will hold bilateral talks with Finland's President Sauli Niinisto followed by a news conference before joining a regional summit and a second meeting with media, Niinisto's office said in a statement.

Hundreds of people gathered in central Helsinki to see Zelenskiy arrive, cheering him as he appeared in front of the presidential palace.

The wider summit will include Niinisto as well as the prime ministers of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.

"The theme of the summit is Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the Nordic countries' continued support for Ukraine, Ukraine's relationship with the EU and NATO, and Ukraine's initiative for a just peace," Niinisto's office said.

A spokesperson for Zelenskiy in a statement said the Ukrainian government expected the summit to result in a joint statement.

"The meeting of the leaders of Ukraine and the five countries of Northern Europe is organized for further coordination of military assistance to our state, European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine," the spokesperson wrote.

The Ukrainian president's visit to Finland, one of only a few journeys he has made abroad since Russia's invasion last year, was announced only after his arrival amid tight security in the Finnish capital.

Finland recently joined NATO, becoming its 31st member, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Finland shares a long border with Russia.

The Kremlin said on April 4 Finland's accession to NATO was a dangerous historic mistake that would weaken security in the wider region and force Moscow to take counter-measures.

Echoing this view, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing on Wednesday: "As we observe NATO's plans for Finland, we confirm that Russia will be forced to retaliate, both militarily and otherwise, in order to curb threats to our national security."

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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye on Thursday insisted the PKK and all groups allied with it must disarm and disband "immediately", a week after a historic call by the Kurdish militant group's jailed founder.

"The PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end all terrorist activities, dissolve and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons," a Turkish defense ministry source said.

The remarks made clear the demand referred to all manifestations of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, costing tens of thousands of lives.

Although the insurgency targeted Türkiye, the PKK's leadership is based in the mountains of northern Iraq and its fighters are also part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key force in northeastern Syria.

Last week, Ocalan made a historic call urging the PKK to dissolve and his fighters to disarm, with the group on Saturday accepting his call and declaring a ceasefire.

The same day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that if the promises were not kept, Turkish forces would continue their anti-PKK operations.

"If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... or deceive... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist," he said.

- Resonance in Syria, Iraq -

Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out three major military operations in northern Syria targeting PKK militants, which it sees as a strategic threat along its southern border.

Ankara has made clear it wants to see all PKK fighters disarmed wherever they are -- notably those in the US-backed SDF, which it sees as part of the PKK.

The SDF -- the bulk of which is made up of the Kurdish YPG -- spearheaded the fight that ousted ISIS extremists from Syria in 2019, and is seen by much of the West as crucial to preventing an extremist resurgence.

Last week, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call for the PKK to lay down its weapons but said it "does not concern our forces" in northeastern Syria.

But Türkiye disagrees.

Since the toppling of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in December, Ankara has threatened military action unless YPG militants are expelled, deeming them to be a regional security problem.

"Our fundamental approach is that all terrorist organizations should disarm and be dissolved in Iraq and Syria, whether they are called the PKK, the YPG or the SDF," Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AKP, said on Monday.

Ocalan's call also affects Iraq, with the PKK leadership holed up in the mountainous north where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years.

Turkish forces have also established numerous bases there, souring Ankara's relationship with Baghdad.

"We don't want either the PKK or the Turkish army on our land... Iraq wants everyone to withdraw," Iraq's national security adviser Qassem al-Araji told AFP.

"Turkish forces are (in Iraq) because of the PKK's presence," he said, while pointing out that Türkiye had "said more than once that it has no territorial ambitions in Iraq".