Finland signs 10-year security pact with Ukraine, will provide package of defense materials including ammunition

Finland signed a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine on Wednesday. Finland will send an additional 188 million euros ($203 million) in military aid, President Alexander Stubb said after meeting Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev. Stubb’s office said the agreement covers Ukraine’s defense and security against the two-year-old Russian invasion and security cooperation and long-term support, including Ukrainian reforms and reconstruction. A statement said the 10-year agreement is proof of Finland’s long-term commitment to supporting Ukraine. Finland would also provide another package of defense materials, including air defense and heavy-caliber ammunition, Stubb said at a joint press conference with Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital.

He said the latest aid package would bring the total Finnish contribution to Ukraine’s defense from 2022 to around 2 billion euros. “We’re not just giving Ukraine this military support to defend itself, we’re giving this military support to Ukraine to win this war,” Stubb said. Ukraine relies heavily on Western air defense systems against its militarily superior foe and has long pressured its international partners for larger weapons to deter increasing Russian attacks on its cities and energy grid.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday that Kiev’s partners are not providing adequate air defense to protect against Russian missile attacks, even though they have more than 100 Patriot systems in their arsenal. NATO foreign ministers were meeting in Brussels to discuss how to make military support for Ukraine more sustainable to avoid any significant cuts in US support if Donald Trump returns to the White House. How to keep at a long term level.