Finland is currently preparing the eighth aid package for Ukraine, Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen tells . EU defense ministers met today informally in Prague.
The EU countries intend to continue military aid, but the most significant of the new means of support in the near future will be military training, says the Finnish Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen (middle).
Military training for Ukrainians has been proposed by the person in charge of the EU’s external relations Josep Borrell.
– It is possible that an EU-level joint training operation will be built, where Ukrainians would be given military training in Ukraine’s neighboring countries. The matter is progressing quickly, Kaikkonen tells by phone.
Countries that provide material aid to Ukraine have already had to train Ukrainians in the use of their weapons. This kind of training has been given, for example, by Germany for using the Gepard air defense system.
Otherwise, military training is concentrated in British hands. The British have aimed to train up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in crash courses for a few weeks.
At least the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Denmark and also Finland have expressed their participation in training in Britain.
However, a long journey can become a problem. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi has previously stated that soldiers who go abroad are always away from home defense.
The eighth aid package for Ukraine is leaving Finland
Finland is currently preparing the eighth aid package for Ukraine. Defense Minister Kaikkonen – as in the past – will not disclose its contents in more detail for security reasons.
However, according to the minister, the aid package provided by Finland is comparable to previous ones.
– The kind of stuff that is needed in Ukraine. A quite diverse entity has already come out of Finland, Kaikkonen characterizes.
According to Kaikkonen, Finland will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary, and in his opinion, direct, financial support should also be considered.
Ukraine has needed more robust weapons, do you think the support is sufficient?
– There is a constant discussion about this within the EU and NATO countries. Ukraine has recently also received increasingly powerful weapons, and with them it has been able to defend itself even more strongly, Kaikkonen estimates.
The ratification of NATO membership in different countries is progressing
According to the Minister of Defense, Spain plans to ratify Finland’s NATO membership during the fall. Kaikkonen says that he had a discussion with the Spanish Minister of Defense.
– Yes, others are also making progress. Of course, as is well known, these tripartite negotiations with Turkey will still be held in the fall, but Finland’s NATO membership will progress, says Kaikkonen.