Ukraine | Niinistö in Kyiv: The Cold War is remembered as a difficult time, but even on some issues the great powers were able to agree then – see the entire press conference

President Sauli Niinistö compared the state of the world to the Cold War during his visit to Ukraine on Tuesday and stated that, at least in one respect, the current situation is even more difficult than at that time.

“Many people remember the Cold War as a hard time,” he said.

“However, it must be remembered that during the Cold War, starting from Etyk, it was also possible to make agreements between the Soviet Union and the United States on how to behave in certain fundamental issues. Such a contractual basis does not exist now,” he said.

This is why the discussion of the great powers is important for him. He raised the President of the United States Joe Biden and the President of China Xi Jinping autumnal meeting emerge as a positive sign.

Niinistö was on tuesday on a visit to Ukrainewhere he met, among others, the president of Ukraine to Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to Niinistö, Zelenskyi had emphasized the need for a conference that would include a wide range of countries around the world, or at least the United States, India and China. It would discuss whether it is possible to get a more permanent peace guarantee system in the world.

At the moment, the UN is trying to fulfill its role, but wars are still being fought.

“Those are difficult questions. It may not be possible to move forward very quickly. But the world would need such a discussion anyway, to be able to think about things more broadly at the same table,” said Niinistö.

Niinistö said that he had also discussed with Zelenskyi the ten-point peace plan drawn up by him.

“There is no such thing as peace that is so badly needed here. But there are not many indications of that at the moment,” Niinistö said.

“Unfortunately, the situation is escalating in the opposite direction, the war is accelerating.”

Read more: Niinistö’s peace speeches shocked Kiev

Read more: President Niinistö in Kiev – Zelenskyi: “It is inevitable that Russia will lose”

Niinistö started the visit in the morning by getting to know the destruction of last spring’s battles and Russian missile attacks in Borodyanka, about 40 kilometers from Kyiv. He met the soldiers who participated in the battles and received an icon painted on the lid of a Russian ammunition box as a gift from the regional defense forces.

Niinistö also visited Butša, where Russian troops committed brutal murders and rapes of civilians in the spring.

In addition, he held a small initiation at Taras Shevchenko University in Kyiv.

This is Niinistö’s first visit to Ukraine after the start of the war of aggression against Russia. Niinistö has previously met Zelensky in Kyiv in August 2019.