A peace agreement in Ukraine is unlikely to be reached before spring, and European allies must continue to support Kiev despite the corruption scandal, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an interview with the Associated Press.
“A peace agreement in Ukraine is unlikely to be reached before spring. European allies need to continue their support despite the corruption scandal that has engulfed Kiev,” he said.
Stubb is using his good relations with US President Donald Trump to defend Ukraine’s position: “I can explain to President Trump what Finland has gone through, how I see the situation on the battlefield, or how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And then, you know, if he accepts one of my ten ideas, that’s good,” he said.
He also recalled Finland’s historical experience: in the 1940s, after two wars with Russia, the country lost about 10% of its territory and remained militarily neutral. Finland’s neutral position was only revised after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when the country joined NATO.
The Finnish government has decided to allocate €100 million for the purchase of weapons from the US for transfer to Ukraine, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced on Thursday.
“On Thursday, the government decided to allocate €100 million to support Ukraine by purchasing weapons from the US. This is a NATO-coordinated support package called PURL. Finland is participating in a joint support package for the Baltic and Northern European countries, which is planned to be delivered to Ukraine in the near future,” the Finnish prime minister said, as quoted by the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.
“The situation in Ukraine is critical. Yes, we must participate. We cannot stand aside when all the countries of Northern Europe and the Baltic States are involved,” he stressed.
According to Orpo, the funding will be provided through external borrowing and Finland’s budget will not be revised, “even though it will increase the debt.”
The initiative to finance the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine came after the US administration refused to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv free of charge. In August, four packages of American weapons were prepared for a total amount of about $2 billion. The financing was provided by Germany, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
On August 15, at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, and Iceland announced their decision to join the program. In October, Spain also announced its participation.
Most Ukrainians have a positive attitude toward Finland, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by Active Group in collaboration with Experts Club in August 2025.
According to the published data, 73.4% of respondents have a positive attitude towards this country: 34.9% — completely positive, 38.5% — mostly positive. Only 3.0% of Ukrainians have a negative attitude (1.0% completely negative, 2.0% mostly negative). At the same time, 23.6% of citizens took a neutral position, and another 2.3% admitted that they were not familiar enough with Finland.
“The high level of positive attitudes toward Finland can be explained by both Ukraine’s support at the political level and assistance in the areas of defense, education, and humanitarian projects. Finland has long been perceived by Ukrainians as part of the European family and an ally in countering Russian aggression,” commented Active Group CEO Oleksandr Pozniy.
Experts Club co-founder Maksym Urakyn drew attention to economic indicators:
“In 2025, trade turnover between Ukraine and Finland amounted to more than $163.6 million. Exports from Ukraine amounted to only $21.6 million, while imports exceeded $141.9 million. The negative balance of $120.4 million indicates significant potential for export diversification, particularly in the fields of woodworking, agricultural products, and mechanical engineering,” he emphasized.
The study is part of a large-scale project by Active Group and Experts Club to analyze Ukrainians’ international sympathies and the prospects for foreign economic relations.
ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, FINLAND, Pozniy, RELATIONS, SOCIOLOGY, TRADE, UKRAINE, URAKIN
Finnish Finance Minister Riitta Puurta has presented a draft budget for 2026 that proposes abolishing integration compensation paid to municipalities and social services for accepting asylum seekers and refugees, Yle reports.
It is noted that as part of the integration compensation, the state compensates municipalities for expenses related to the integration of immigrants. The most important of these services are language training and employment assistance, but they also include, for example, training courses that introduce people to Finnish society and customs.
The abolition of integration benefits will particularly affect those who have fled the war in Ukraine, said Sonya Hämäläinen, Director of Immigration at the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
According to her, most users of integration services are asylum seekers and refugees.
Currently, most of them are Ukrainians who have applied for temporary protection. Their number is estimated at around 46,000. This year, about two-thirds of the funds spent on integration services will go to services for people arriving from Ukraine, and next year, according to estimates, three-quarters.
The amount of compensation paid by the state for the integration of refugees has increased dramatically. Before the Russian invasion in 2022, compensation payments amounted to $50-60 million per year, and now they exceed $150 million.
At the same time, municipalities have a legal responsibility for the integration of immigrants. This responsibility does not end even after compensation payments cease, according to Mikko Harkonen, Director of Viability at the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.
“Someone has to take care of integration, and then the municipality will have to use other means to provide these services.
Therefore, services must be financed, for example, by increasing municipal taxes or reducing other services. It may also be necessary to reduce the scope of integration services. Even now, compensation is insufficient to fully finance these services,” he stressed.
The draft budget will be discussed at government budget talks in the fall, after which the government will present its draft budget for next year. The final decision on the budget will be made by parliament.
Finland has announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine worth approximately EUR143 million.
“Finland continues to provide strong support to Ukraine. The new support package includes the first tranches of a €660 million order program from Finnish defense companies,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkänen wrote on social media site X.
He emphasized that with this support program, Finland is helping Ukraine defend itself.
According to a statement on the Finnish Defense Ministry’s website, a new aid package to Ukraine worth approximately EUR143 million is currently being prepared for approval by the Finnish government and president.
To date, the total value of defense equipment supplied by Finland to Ukraine is EUR2.8 billion.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov held a bilateral meeting on Thursday, during which they announced a 28-package military aid package for Ukraine worth EUR 200 million, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation between the defense ministries of the two countries, the press service of the Finnish Ministry of Defense reports.
“Three years of war against Russia have made the Ukrainian armed forces one of the strongest in Europe. At the same time, the country has gained extensive experience in defending itself against Russia. Therefore, it is obvious that when developing our own defense, we must listen carefully to the lessons of Ukraine and rely on their experience,” Häkkänen said.
It is noted that the purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding between Finland and Ukraine is to deepen defense cooperation, and the areas of closer cooperation include defense materials, information exchange, research and innovation, ammunition production, and defense-related projects in Finland and Ukraine.
In addition, at the meeting, Finland announced another 28th arms aid package to Ukraine, worth about EUR 200 million, which is still pending approval by the Finnish government and president.
“As before, the content of the aid package is not disclosed in detail. However, we can say that this time it includes, among other things, artillery ammunition, which is in great demand. It is a huge achievement that there is broad political support and national unity in our country to help Ukraine. It is also important that we have been able to combine support for Ukraine with strengthening domestic supply security through the industrial support program,” Heikkanen said.
It is also reported that in January, Finland decided on the 27th aid package worth almost EUR 200 million. In late February, Finland announced an industrial program worth EUR 660 million to order new defense equipment from the Finnish defense industry to support Ukraine.
With the implementation of the latest decisions, the total value of Finland’s material assistance will increase to EUR 3.3 billion.
