Finland's PM Sanna Marin meets Zelenskyy in Ukraine, visits war-torn Irpin & Bucha

Amid the relentless war in Ukraine, Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin arrived in the war-torn country on Thursday and held an official meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to reports by multiple Ukrainian media, the 36-year-president met Zelenskyy in the presidential palace before heading to other places in the country. Meanwhile, while holding a high-level meeting, Zelenskyy stressed that Finland's military assistance is very valuable to deter the aggression of Russian forces. 

"These are very important direct signals of support, first of all for the Ukrainian people, our people, who see that they are not alone with the difficult challenges of today," Zelenskyy said, as per the statement released after the meeting.

Zelenskyy thanks Finland for providing immense support to Ukraine

Zelenskyy thanked the government and the people of Finland for their unconditional support. In particular, for five packages of defence assistance, sanctions against the Russian Federation, as well as for financial and humanitarian assistance. The President noted that it is very important for Finland to support Ukraine's future membership in the European Union and the necessary EU decisions to achieve this goal. "Weapons sanctions policy and the unity of our partners in the issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU - this is what can ensure strength in the defence of our land," he said.

According to the Ukraine Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security, she also visited war-torn Irpin and Bucha, where bodies of at least 410 civilians were found earlier in April this year. Marin stressed that her country and people understand Ukrainians very well, given their historical experience. "It was extremely difficult to look at everything that Russia has done with these cities. Many people died. At the same time, the heroic spirit of the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for their freedom and for the whole of Europe, is admirable," said the Finnish Prime Minister. 

Russia-Ukraine war

It is worth mentioning that Russia initiated a full-fledged war against Ukraine nearly two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the independence of breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin's action came despite the West's repetitive warning and speculations about his ill intention to invade Ukraine. Since then, it has been bombarding several cities in Ukraine, resulting in the killing of thousands of civilians. Millions of people fled the war-torn country and have been living in neighbouring countries and European nations. Recently, during an interview with a Russian state media, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "Moscow is not in the mood to wrap up the ongoing military operations until the goals are accomplished".  

Image: @StratcomCentre/Twitter