Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his visiting Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto discussed security issues during their meeting in Kyiv.

Messrs Zelensky and Niinisto talked about regional security, the issues that directly affected the security of Ukraine and Finland, and bilateral defence cooperation, according to a statement on the Ukrainian presidential website.

Mr Zelensky thanked Finland for providing 12 defence assistance packages for Ukraine and helping in restoring Ukraine’s energy sector after the Russian strikes.

The Ukrainian president informed his Finnish counterpart about the current situation at the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“We also discussed Finland’s participation in the coalition of countries aimed to provide Ukraine with modern Western tanks,” Mr Zelensky said.

For his part, Mr Niinisto informed that Finland had provided assistance worth €600 million (US$653 million) for Ukraine and had sheltered about 50,000 Ukrainian citizens.

During their talks, the parties also touched upon the issues of Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration and exchanged their views on the Ukrainian Peace Formula proposed by Mr Zelensky in November 2022.

Mr Niinisto arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday for his first visit since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.  

(Xinhua/NAN)