Finland approves new $200M military package for Ukraine

Finland has announced a new military aid package for Kiev, worth more than $200 million, bringing total aid from the Nordic country for Ukraine to $3.1 billion.

President Alexander Stubb on Friday approved the government proposal on Finland’s 27th aid package to Ukraine since Russia launched its war in early 2022.

The package is worth almost $207 million, bringing the value of the defence equipment delivered by Finland to Ukraine to $3.1 billion, Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported.

"We are providing exactly the kind of support that will help Ukraine defend itself in an acute situation on the front," Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a statement.

Long-term agreement on security

Last year, Finland and Ukraine signed a long-term agreement on security cooperation, during a visit by Finnish President Alexander Stubb to the Ukrainian capital.

The pact signed by President Alexander Stubb and Zelenskyy made Finland the eighth NATO member this year to commit to long-term security cooperation and defence backing for Kiev as it battles to hold back Russian forces.

In the 10-year agreement, the Nordic country said it would "continue to provide long-term military, political and financial support, as well as humanitarian assistance and civil protection support to Ukraine ... for as long as it takes".

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, joined NATO last year in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.