Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Speaker of the Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) visited Kyiv on Wednesday to ink a defence agreement between Finland and Ukraine.
The bilateral agreement signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Stubb commits Finland to supplying Ukraine with weapons and support for years to come. Finland's commitment to provide weapons, ammunition and naval equipment is included in the pact, alongside a promise to support Ukraine's own domestic weapons production.
According to the agreement, Finland will also help Ukraine to maintain its energy infrastructure and make the switch to green energy.
While the deal contains a political commitment to support Ukraine's membership of Nato and the EU, it does not include a provision for sending Finnish soldiers to Ukraine.
"There is no reason to send troops now. We support Ukraine economically and militarily and we support Ukraine's integration into international alliances," Stubb said.
Zelensky echoed Stubb's sentiment, saying that Ukraine's priority was to have its own forces fully equipped and able to defend itself.
Stubb's second foreign visit as President
On Wednesday morning, Stubb and Halla-aho visited Hostomel airport outside Kyiv, where the Russian invasion of Ukraine began two years ago. Among those present were Finnish Ambassador to Ukraine Jaakko Lehtovirta and Ukrainian Ambassador to Finland Olga Dibrova.
The Ukrainians presented Stubb with an artillery shell casing engraved with the Kyiv coat of arms.
The trip marked Stubb's second foreign visit as president, after visiting a Nato exercise in Norway last month.
At the end of April, he is scheduled to pay a state visit to Sweden at the invitation of King Carl XVI Gustaf. Finnish presidents and prime ministers have traditionally made their first foreign visits to Sweden.
Speaker of Parliament Halla-aho last visited Kyiv in November last year, where he addressed the Ukrainian Parliament in Ukrainian.
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