Finland preparing 18th package of aid for Ukraine with heavy weapons and ammunition – PM

Finland will include heavy weapons and ammunition in the 18th package of aid to Ukraine, which is currently being prepared.

Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo stated this at a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland Petteri Orpo, who arrived in Ukraine. The parties discussed defense and security cooperation between Ukraine and Finland and priority positions for Ukraine, which will be reflected in the next aid packages.

Petteri Orpo emphasized that Finland stands in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. The Republic of Finland is one of the largest donors and is preparing to provide the 18th package of defense support, which will include ammunition and weapons. The Republic of Finland supports Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO and is ready to join the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

^{Photo: Office of the President}

In response to the question of how accessible Finnish military technologies will be in Ukraine, the Prime Minister of Finland said that he had talked this over with President Zelensky.

"Last week, we saw that the Swedish company concluded an agreement on cooperation with Ukraine. We also discussed that Finland has high-tech companies and can deal with issues of cooperation to do something together [with Ukraine. – ed.]… This is a very useful idea," said the head of the Finnish government.

For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized:

"I am sure: together, we can do very useful things in the defense industry. For the fall, we are preparing the first Forum of Defense Industries here in Ukraine so that our partners can see the possibilities of our state and society and how we are developing our capabilities. So that we can attract additional potential partners. Together we will provide more security to the world. I am sure that Finland's participation in the Forum will be productive, and we are interested in establishing direct cooperation between our specialized enterprises."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5jo_znJmi_c&t=2s

For reference:

As reported, Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo is visiting Ukraine.

President Zelensky asked Finland to start negotiations on a joint document on security for Ukraine. At a joint news conference in Kyiv with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Zelensky stated that Finland was helping carry out the Ukrainian Peace Formula. He remarked that during their meeting today, he received Orpo's assurance that Finland was willing to be involved in the implementation of this formula.

The head of the Finnish government noted that taking into account the size of his country, it can be considered one of the largest donors to Ukraine. In this context, he reminded that Finland has already provided Ukraine with aid in the amount of 1.7 billion euros, particularly defense materials worth more than 1.2 billion euros.