Finnish Prime Minister visits Kyiv, meets Zelensky, attends funeral of fallen soldier

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on March 10.

Zelensky and Marin visited wounded soldiers in a Kyiv hospital and attended the funeral of fallen soldier Dmytro Kotsiubailo, killed in action on March 7.

Zelensky thanked Finland for supplying aid to Ukraine's energy sector following Russia's mass missile strike.

The press release states that the primary focus of Zelensky's meeting with Marin was defense and security, with Zelensky extending his appreciation to Marin for Finland's defense aid.

Marin noted that Finland had just delivered its 14th defense aid package to Ukraine, which included heavy weaponry, and pledged to continue providing support.

"I am confident that we will continue to strengthen our collaboration in this area for the benefit of our peoples, as well as the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, Finland, and our European neighbors," Zelensky said.

Apart from defense and security, Zelensky and Marin also discussed the significance of halting Russia's attempts to evade sanctions by trading with third-party nations, particularly with regard to products that hold significance for the Russian military industry.

"We must come to the point that global sanctions are introduced that completely block any possibility of restoring the missile potential of the Russian Federation, obtaining new drones and technologies," Zelensky said.

Zelensky expressed his appreciation to Marin for Finland's backing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, aimed at solving the worldwide food crisis resulting from Russia's obstruction of Ukraine's ports. Both leaders stressed the importance of extending the deal to additional ports.

Additionally, Marin voiced her support for Ukraine's peace plan and its endeavors to bring Russian war criminals to justice.

"We support President Zelensky's peace formula and want this plan to start working. Only lasting peace can give our family of European countries, the Euro-Atlantic family, peace and prosperity. We want Ukraine to join NATO as one of the allied states of this alliance," Marin said.

Marin also expressed Finland's willingness to take part in Ukraine's post-war recovery, reconstruction, and modernization efforts, with a particular focus on green energy, digitalization and telecommunications, education, energy and energy efficiency, waste processing, and water treatment, as well as construction, planning, and infrastructure.

Ukraine war latest: Russia launches largest missile attack against Ukraine since January

The Kyiv Independent