Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates Finland will deliver its biggest defense package to Ukraine so far, accounting for more than €400 million, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement Friday.

“Ukraine continues to need support in defending its territory and the current package of defence materiel is clearly the largest one to date,” Defense Minister Mikko Savola said.

The statement said Finland will send heavy artillery and munitions, but did not go into specifics. The latest defense package brings the total amount of military aid to Ukraine to €590 million.

The announcement comes ahead of a gathering of Western allies at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday. Military leaders will discuss stepping up their support to Kyiv amid mounting pressure on Germany to send tanks to Ukraine.

Finland and Sweden’s defense ministers will sign a statement of intent on support for Ukraine at the Ramstein meeting, the statement added. Stockholm announced its own plans to send another major military package, including the Archer artillery system, on Thursday.

“The joint support to Ukraine is a sign of deep mutual trust and increasingly close defence cooperation between Finland and Sweden,” the statement reads.

Both countries decided to apply for NATO membership last year, saying they want to join the military alliance “simultaneously.”

Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates Finland announced Friday a 400-million-euro military aid package to Ukraine, its largest to date and including heavy artillery as well as munitions but no Leopard tanks.

“Ukraine continues to need support in defending its territory,” Defense Minister Mikko Savola said in a statement.

The ministry did not disclose more detailed information on the contents of the package but said the aid did not include Leopard battle tanks, special adviser Miikka Pynnonen told AFP.

This is the Nordic country’s 12th package of defense materiel to Ukraine. The previous 11 had a combined value of 190 million euros (about $205 million).

The ministry also said Finland would sign a so-called Statement of Intent with Sweden on support for Ukraine, to make sure the aid “would not endanger the national defense of the two countries.”

“Finland supplies defense materiel to Ukraine, and Sweden expresses its readiness to support Finland as necessary,” the statement said.

On Thursday, Sweden pledged to send Ukraine its Archer artillery system, a modern mobile howitzer requested by Kyiv for months, along with armored vehicles and anti-tank missiles.

Pressure has also been mounting on Germany from European allies to authorize exports of its Leopard tank, which are used by several armed forces around the world, including Finland.

“We hope that this decision (to deliver Leopards) will be made real, and Finland is definitely ready to play its part in that support,” Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.

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