Mr ÁRMANNSSON repeated that Ukraine needed and deserved their support. He added that the Russian authorities had to be held accountable. He looked forward to hearing Mr Ruslan STEFANCHUK’s video message later that day. He hoped all members would express their strong support for Ukraine in the meeting. That morning many members of the audience had participated in a roundtable on “A Democracy Fit for the Future”, and in the launch ceremony of the Vigdís Prize for Women's Empowerment. Mr ÁRMANNSSON announced that the items on the agenda for the day were both relevant and important. A liberal- based world order was established following the calamities of the Second World War, he said, with successful multilateral organisations, from the United Nations and Bretton Woods organisations, to regional organisations such as the Council of Europe. This world order had been challenged in recent years in many ways, putting multilateralism under strain, such as via Russia’s illegal war of aggression. He said that multilateral architecture and rules-based international order was of utmost importance to them all. A world order based on unilateralism and rule by the force of the strong was not the way forward, he added. They all benefited from adhering to international law, and the peaceful settlement of disputes, not only as very small members of the family of nations. Tomorrow, the leaders of Europe would be meeting in Reykjavík for the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in its history. This was by far the second biggest event of such a high calibre hosted by Iceland. Mr ÁRMANNSSON recognised that the Parliamentary Assembly had contributed with valuable input to the Summit, which he hoped would be successful. He reissued a warm welcome to Reykjavík, Iceland, repeating that he wished everyone all the best for the important work they had to do that day. Mr ÁRMANNSSON left the stage to a round of applause. 3. Video message by Mr Ruslan STEFANCHUK, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mr KOX, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, thanked Mr Birgir ÁRMANNSSON, the Speaker of the Icelandic Parliament Alþingi, and introduced a pre-recorded video of Mr Ruslan STEFANCHUK, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. He was not able to make it in person but said he would love to address the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.  Video message by Mr Ruslan STEFANCHUK, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mr Ruslan STEFANCHUK, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, started his message by addressing Mr Tiny KOX, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as “Your Excellency” and the Honourable Members of the Standing Committee, as well as colleagues and friends. He was grateful for the invitation to make this address during an extraordinary meeting on the eve of the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe. It was his strong belief that they, as parliamentarians, should demonstrate their leadership and contribute to the decision- making process of their organisation, strengthening their core values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Mr STEFANCHUK referred to the foundation of the Council of Europe in 1949, commenting that it had come a long way in upholding and promoting its fundamental principles and objectives. He said that Europe faced extreme challenges today, in confronting what he called Russia’s full-scale and brutal aggression against Ukraine. It was a hostility which was an attack of all of their values and principles, and the foundations of European architecture, built to avoid a repetition of the atrocity of the Second World War. He said that he was convinced that in these dark times for their continent, the organisation’s unwavering commitment to these values and principles was more important than ever. As an essential part of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly had a crucial responsibility to address Russia’s full-scale aggression and to take a firm stand against the violation of international law. He said that the Parliamentary Assembly was fulfilling its mandate in taking several decisive actions to counter

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