President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö attended the meeting on support for Ukraine held in Paris on Monday 26 February 2024.
The meeting at the Elysée Palace was hosted by President of France Emmanuel Macron and it was attended by Heads of State and Government or representatives of their ministries from more than 20 countries. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and find common ways to respond to Ukraine’s needs more quickly and effectively.
At the end of the meeting, President Niinistö said to the Finnish media that the participants had a very clear policy and message. “We will step up our efforts. That, of course, means military assistance, especially in terms of ammunition and air defence capacity.”
According to the President, in a way, in its approach to supporting Ukraine the meeting returned to a similar atmosphere as in the early months of 2022. “Back then, decisions on support for Ukraine were made very quickly and resolutely.”
As far as Finland is concerned, the President said that Finland has so far decided on 22 aid packages to Ukraine “and it will not end there”. The total value of the defence materiel and equipment supplied by Finland to Ukraine now stands at EUR 1.8 billion.
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President Macron received President Niinistö at the Elysée Palace. Photo: Riikka Hietajärvi/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
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President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö attended the meeting on support for Ukraine held in Paris on Monday 26 February 2024. Photo: Riikka Hietajärvi/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
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President Niinistö and President Macron greet the photographers. Photo: Riikka Hietajärvi/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
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The meeting at the Elysée Palace was hosted by President of France Emmanuel Macron. It was attended by Heads of State and Government from several European countries. Photo: Riikka Hietajärvi/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland
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The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and find common ways to support Ukraine more effectively. Photo: Riikka Hietajärvi/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland