Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shook hands during a joint press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, 23 August 2023. The two heads of state briefly discussed the possibility of embarking on a joint project to manufacture Finnish armoured vehicles in Ukraine. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)
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PRIME MINISTER Petteri Orpo (NCP) on Wednesday made a surprise visit to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
Orpo revealed the Finnish government is this week set to make a decision on the 18th military aid package to Ukraine, adding that the package will consist of heavy weaponry and ammunition and be worth about as much as the previous packages – more than 100 million euros.
He declined to provide further details of the contents of the package.
Finland, he said, has thereby pledged a total of 1.7 billion euros in aid to the country ravaged by the brutal invasion of Russia.
Orpo and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held a joint press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, also commenting on the possibility of licensing the manufacture of Finnish armoured military vehicles in Ukraine. The Swedish government announced a similar collaborative endeavour last week: the joint production of CV90 infantry fighting vehicles in Ukraine.
“We have high-tech companies. We’ll see what we can do about it. This is a good and useful idea,” commented Orpo.
Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday reported that the vehicles would likely be Pasis, the military armoured personnel carriers manufactured by Patria.
The Finnish majority state-owned defence and security technology company declined to comment on the possibility when contacted by YLE on Wednesday. Charly Salonius-Pasternak, a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, stated to the public broadcasting company that the idea is great.
“It’d be a perfect match with the [operational logic] of Patria and would promote security of supply on a broader scale. There’d be one additional factory where these could be built in the future. It’d also split the costs,” he noted.
Finnish reporters in Kyiv asked Zelenskiy if Ukraine remains interested in the Finnish Air Force’s F-18 Hornet jets once they have been replaced with F-35s, the deliveries of which are scheduled to start in 2027. Zelenskiy said Ukraine prefers F-16s because they have been manufactured in high numbers but added that the country is naturally willing to receive anything that can help it defend its own territory.
“If the Hornets aren’t needed in Finland, of course we’ll receive them,” he said.
Both Denmark and the Netherlands have pledged to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, with Ukrainian pilots and technical staff starting training in the operation, servicing and maintenance of the fighter jets earlier this week in Denmark.
Ukraine will commemorate its 32nd anniversary of independence today, on 24 August 2023.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
