President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of Finland Sauli Niinistö, who is on a visit to our country.
The Head of State welcomed his Finnish counterpart to Kyiv and emphasized the importance of his visit today, on the day when 11 months have passed since the beginning of the full-scale war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
As Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized, the resilience of our country is a key prerequisite for the security of every neighbor of Russia and the whole of Europe, and therefore for global security.
"I am grateful to Mr. President personally, I am grateful to the citizens of Finland for a clear understanding of what we need now. It is to remain resilient and move together towards victory in this war," the Head of State noted during the meeting with media representatives following the negotiations with Sauli Niinistö.
He emphasized that Ukraine's victory will be a victory for every nation that values freedom and a guarantee of non-recurrence of the aggression that our country is now defending itself against and that Finland once defended itself against.
The President of Ukraine said that during today's meeting, the parties had discussed defense cooperation, protection of Ukrainian energy, interaction in European structures, regional security, the Ukrainian Peace Formula and other issues that directly affect the security of Ukraine, Finland and the whole of Europe.
"I am grateful to Finland for the unwavering principled support of our defense efforts, sanctions pressure on Russia, international activity aimed at bringing Russia to justice for its terror," the Head of State noted.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine and Finland are united by 12 defense assistance packages already and cooperation in restoring Ukraine's energy sector after Russian strikes, and expressed gratitude for this.
In addition, as noted by the President of Ukraine, he and Sauli Niinistö continue to discuss the preparation of the 10th package of EU sanctions against the Russian Federation.
"It is very important that international efforts are also aimed at preventing any attempts by Russia and its associates to circumvent the sanctions pressure. We have to work together on this," he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also informed his Finnish counterpart about the current situation at the front and Russia's plans for the near future.
"It is obvious that the Russian leadership is preparing for revenge, accumulating forces. But it is also obvious that the terrorist state must lose. Today we discussed what exactly is needed for this on the battlefield for our country. In this context, we also discussed Finland's participation in the coalition of countries aimed to provide Ukraine with modern Western tanks. We are grateful for the support. Such a contribution to the victory is very important for us," the President of Ukraine noted.
During the meeting, the leaders paid attention to the possibility of Finland's involvement in the implementation of specific points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula.
"We are already working together on the issue of food security - Finland has joined our Grain from Ukraine initiative, and I am grateful for that. We can also work on the realization of other points of our formula," the Head of State noted.
The parties also touched upon the issues of Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
"I heard very important words of support for Ukraine," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
For his part, Sauli Niinistö said that today he had the opportunity to visit Borodyanka and Bucha in the Kyiv region, where he saw traces of the cruelty of the Russian invaders and the suffering of the Ukrainian people.
He also noted that he had the opportunity to talk to a father and a son, a former veterinarian and a student who are now in the territorial defense, and was impressed by the fact that ordinary people are defending Ukraine.
"We are ready to do everything we can to help you. We have been doing so until now, especially after last year's large-scale offensive," the Finnish leader emphasized.
According to Sauli Niinistö, his country has been continuously supporting Ukraine and has provided assistance worth almost 600 million euros. In addition, Finland supports Ukrainian civil society, provides generators and other humanitarian aid, and has sheltered about 50,000 Ukrainian citizens.
The President of Finland expressed belief that, in addition to providing this assistance and supporting sanctions, it is necessary to counter Russian narratives.
"So that people know what is going on, where the truth is," he summarized.
