Kanerva heads to Kyiv, Niinistö says no to arms shipments
Image: Yle
The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), MP Ilkka Kanerva, travelled to Ukraine on Thursday. He is to meet with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin among others.
Kanerva, who is making the visit at the invitation of the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, is to return to Helsinki on Friday. The former long-time government minister is now a backbencher for the prime minister’s conservative National Coalition Party.
Accompanying Kanerva on the trip to Kyiv is the deputy chair of the Finnish OSCE delegation, Ismo Soukola. He is a first-term MP representing the opposition Finns Party.
President: More sanctions possible
Also on Thursday, the Finnish News Agency STT quoted President Sauli Niinistö as saying that Finland will not send arms to Ukraine. Speaking at an event in Espoo, the president said the matter had been discussed by Finland’s foreign policy leaders. He noted that the Finland state is providing financial support to Ukraine, and that non-governmental organisations have been arranging aid deliveries to the war-torn country.
Niinistö added that more sanctions against Russia may be needed.
“If it turns out that the separatists have begun a broad offensive in Eastern Ukraine, then it will be difficult not to impose new economic sanctions on Russia,” Niinistö said.