President Pirc Musar on the second day of the Ukraine Peace Summit: "We made a small step in the right direction."

At the roundtable on humanitarian aspects, the President called particular attention to providing care for children, who are among the most vulnerable in times of war. "This year, there were 90 attacks on schools, which further restricts access to education. Almost one million children have no access to live classes and more than 1.5 million children are in urgent need of psychological support," said President Pirc Musar. "Slovenia helps children in different ways, for example by providing psychosocial support for Ukrainian children who were forcibly relocated and returned to their homeland. We have extensive experience with hosting Ukrainian children in Slovenia, including orphans from Luhansk."

Moreover, Slovenia actively supports mental health and psychosocial care for children and their families in Ukraine. "Another form of Slovenia’s assistance is the Training for Trainers project, organised by the Slovenian humanitarian non-profit organisation ITF Enhancing Human Security and implemented by the Slovene Philanthropy. They provide training in Kherson and Odessa for preschool teachers, school social workers and psychologists with key tools to address the distress experienced by children and their parents in war zones," said the President. "We also contributed to the establishment of a centre providing psychosocial support for children and young people in the Kharkiv region and a centre for the rehabilitation of disabled youth in Zarichany, Zhytomyr."

"We are here to change the lives of people whose daily life and fate depends on our ability to live for the future rather than the past. In the past two days, we have made a small step in the right direction. There is still a long path ahead of us, but we do not have a choice. If the international community truly believes in the sanctity of life and human dignity, we will persevere and win in the end." With this thought, the President concluded her appearance at the work plenary session.

The joint statement that is expected at the end of the summit emphasises the common vision of the peace framework based on the UN Charter and international law. In particular, it underlines the principle of refraining from the threat of force or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country, and the principle of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries within their internationally recognised borders. In terms of nuclear safety, it stresses the unacceptability of threating with or employing nuclear weapons and highlights the importance of the safe operation of Ukrainian nuclear facilities, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant under Ukrainian control and in accordance with the IAEA principles. As regards food security, it underlines the importance of the unrestricted production and supply of food products, calling for free navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The statement also calls for the release or return of prisoners of war, illegally deported Ukrainian children and other Ukrainian civilians.

The President will today hold a bilateral meeting with the Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas.