EU must provide Ukraine with necessary weapons and increase its own defence industry – Finnish Foreign Minister

Elina Valtonen. Photo: Getty Images

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen states that EU countries must simultaneously provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons as soon as possible while also building up the European Union’s military industry to strengthen their own defence capabilities.

Source: Valtonen during a conversation with the media before the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the EU countries on 22 January, reports European Pravda

Quote: “We are now preparing decisions [on supporting Ukraine – ed.], which, I hope, will be adopted at an extraordinary summit in a few weeks.”

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Details: She recalled that Finland is one of the countries that has provided Ukraine with the most support in terms of capabilities, and she emphasised the importance of the EU’s support remaining united and each country contributing proportionally.

Quote: “We need to address Ukraine’s immediate needs, but we also need to find a way to strategically, over time, increase our common European defence industry and capabilities… It serves our strategic interests,” Valtonen stated.

Background: 

• Latvia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasised that “Russia will not stop until it is stopped,” and that fluctuations in support for Ukraine now and in the future will cost Western countries more than assistance to Ukraine.
• Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in a New Year’s address called for investment in arms production to prove that Europe is strong.

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