PM makes unannounced visit to Ukraine, meets with Zelenskyy

Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday made an unannounced visit to Ukraine and held a meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said a government press release on Thursday evening.

Earlier on the day, the office of the Ukrainian President and local newspapers disclosed the Prime Minister´s visit to Ukraine but the Finnish government did not tell details in this regard.

“Prime Minister Sanna Marin is visiting Ukraine. The details of the visit will be announced later,” said the government in a twitter post in Finnish in the afternoon.

Marin visited Kyiv at the invitation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, said the government press release in the evening, adding that during her visit, she also met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and with the Chairman of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk.

During the visit, Marin emphasised that Finland and the international community at large condemn Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which is a blatant violation of the UN Charter, international law and the jointly agreed fundamental principles of European security.

She stressed the need to increase support for Ukraine while continuing to ramp up sanctions against Russia.

“It is important for the European Union to be united, bold and determined in the face of Russia’s invasion,” Marin said.

As Marin announced at the international donors’ conference in Warsaw on 5 May, Finland is preparing additional support for Ukraine. Finland is also prepared to increase its arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Zelensky thanked Finland for its determination in supporting Ukraine and expressed his gratitude to Finnish society as a whole for the strong support and concrete assistance given to Ukrainians.

The President also highlighted the need to continue supporting Ukraine through arms deliveries and thanked Finland for its assistance so far.

Zelensky appealed in favour of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

Marin’s discussions with her Ukrainian counterpart Shmyhal also addressed Ukraine’s application for membership in the EU.

“It is important to create concrete steps for Ukraine to become an EU Member State,” Marin said during her visit.

The prime ministers also signed a framework agreement on cooperation in the education sector.

Marin’s programme included visits to Irpin and to the city of Bucha, where the Prime Minister learned more about the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion and heard local people’s accounts of the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers.

During her visit, the Prime Minister emphasised that there would be no room for impunity. Finland firmly supports Ukraine and the International Criminal Court in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President Office in a release said that Zelenskyy noted the importance of visits of foreign high-ranking officials to their country.

"These are very important direct signals of support, first of all for the Ukrainian people, our people, who see that they are not left alone with today’s ordeals," he said, pointing out the importance of Sanna Marin’s visit to Irpin and Bucha.

"It was extremely difficult to look at everything that Russia has done to 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 Marin, according to the Ukrainian President´s Office statement.

Marin stressed that her country and people today understand Ukrainians very well, given their historical experience, the statement added.

Marin was seen wearing a bulletproof vest in rain-soaked Bucha in photos posted on the Telegram account of the Russian-language Ukrainian newspaper Segodnya.