On March 10, a meeting took place in Kyiv between the Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Herman Smetanin, and a delegation from the Republic of Finland, consisting of Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Tarja Fernandez, and Chief of Defence Staff of the Finnish Armed Forces, General Lieutenant Vesa Virtanen.
The parties discussed the development of Ukraine's defense industry, particularly the growth of defense enterprise capabilities.
Herman Smetanin showed the Finnish partners one of the defense enterprises as proof that Ukraine is not only relying on external help but also directing maximum resources towards manufacturing weapons domestically.
“I am grateful to the Minister for his readiness to support Ukraine's defense industry. We look forward to deepening our cooperation in the defense sector. Special thanks for the willingness to allocate funds to support our cooperation,” noted the Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine.
Herman Smetanin also expressed confidence that Ukraine and Finland would be able to strengthen each other through joint efforts aimed at enhancing the defense capabilities of both countries.
For his part, Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen emphasized Finland's long-term support for Ukraine.
"Europe must do more to support Ukraine and deter the Russian threat. Strengthening the defense industry of Ukraine and Europe as a whole is fundamental. Finland and Ukraine will deepen their defense cooperation. Our new programme for funding domestic industry will play a key role in this," said Antti Häkkänen.
