Reykjavik: As they gathered in Iceland for a two-day summit, European leaders on Tuesday vowed to hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine and unveiled a system to track the casualties and damage caused by Moscow's forces.

In a rare gathering of the Council of Europe (CoE) rights body in Reykjavik, leaders including the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak highlighted their support for Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, joined them via video link after visiting several European capitals to gather more supplies and weapons in preparation for a counteroffensive against Russian forces.

Also Read: UN Secretary-General Applauds US, Qatar, Lebanon, and Egypt for Aiding in Securing Gaza Pact

Zelensky used the occasion to draw attention to Kiev's assertions that it had used recently installed Western aid defences to shoot down Russian hypersonic missiles. He told the summit that it demonstrated the nation's capacity for anything when it was united.

We were unable to shoot down the majority of terrorists' missiles a year ago, especially their ballistic ones, Zelensky said. "And now I have a question. Is there anything we can't do if we can do this?

Although it has destroyed dozens of towns and cities with its air strikes and artillery since the invasion started in February of last year, Russia has denied intentionally bombing civilian targets in Ukrainian cities.

A new Register of Damages, a mechanism to record and document evidence and claims of damage, loss, or injury allegedly sustained as a result of the Russian invasion, was unveiled at the Reykjavik meeting.

The meeting also sought to address other issues, such as the plight of the thousands of Ukrainian children who have been illegally deported to Russia or Russian-occupied territories since the war began. Kyiv and its allies have condemned these deportations.

Now is the time to fight back. Democracies like ours need to become more resilient so that we can compete with and outperform those who promote instability, according to Sunak.

"We will hold Russia responsible for the heinous crimes against humanity that have been committed, and we must also draw lessons from this conflict by being ready to address threats to our societies before they become insurmountable."

Also Read:  Returning to the West Pacific for live-fire training are Chinese warships

Scholz echoed those comments when he stated that the council was crucial "to punish the war crimes of the Russian occupiers and to demand accountability for the enormous damage that Russia inflicts on Ukraine day after day."

According to Macron's office, the council is considering how the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) could assist in addressing the needs of Ukrainians who are struggling.

Several Icelandic public institutions and private sector websites, including the parliament, government, and supreme court, were briefly targeted by cyberattacks prior to the arrival of the leaders.

In a post on Telegram, the pro-Russian hacker collective NoName057 claimed responsibility for the attacks, mentioning in particular the Council of Europe gathering and Zelensky's speech.

The 46-member Council of Europe has only held four summits total since it was established following World War Two.

The European Court of Human Rights, which has its headquarters in Strasbourg and allows citizens to sue governments for violations of human rights, upholds its democratic principles.

The day after Russia invaded Ukraine, its membership was suspended. Then, hours before a vote to expel it, Moscow left the body.

Also Read:  Local authorities report a minimum 41 cyclone fatalities in Rakhine, Myanmar

After failing to carry out a 2019 court decision to free imprisoned businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, Turkiye could be expelled from the Council of Europe.
At the summit, Sunak also spoke with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. According to a readout from Sunak's office, the leaders decided to strengthen immigration cooperation by creating a new cooperative arrangement between British agencies and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

Sunak will also argue for changes to the European Court of Human Rights' authority to halt British migrant deportation flights to Rwanda, which have been denounced as inhumane by opponents, charities, and religious authorities