Finland and Ukraine on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation between the countries, said the Ministry of Defence in a press release.
Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov at a meeting in Helsinki signed the MoU on behalf of their respective countries with the view to deepen defence cooperation.
Cooperation will be enhanced in a number of fields, including defence materiel, exchange of information, research and innovation, ammunition production, and defence industrial projects in Finland and Ukraine.
“For more than three years, Finland has supported Ukraine's defence against Russia. We are one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters by GDP ratio. Finland is committed to continuing its support for Ukraine. However, the relationship between our countries is not a one-way street but a mutually beneficial partnership. This Memorandum of Understanding shows that we want to expand and deepen our cooperation for the benefit of both countries,” said Häkkänen.
Meanwhile during the meeting, Finland told Ukraine of its next arms assistance package, which will be the 28th.
The package, valued at around EUR 200 million, is waiting approval from the government and the President.
Earlier in January, Finland decided on its 27th package, valued at nearly EUR 200 million in replacement cost.
In late February, Finland announced an industrial programme of EUR 660 million which will be used to procure new defence materiel from the Finnish defence industry to help Ukraine.
Delivering on these decisions will raise the total value of Finland’s materiel assistance to EUR 3.3 billion.
- Finland
- Ukraine
- Defence
- Cooperation
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
