Finland’s President on Leopard tanks: contribution cannot be large
In the debate about the fastest possible delivery of many Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö expressed reservations. Finland is the only non-NATO country with Leopard tanks, and it has a very long border with Russia, Niinistö said on Friday evening on ARD’s “Tagesthemen”. “That means our contribution cannot be very large in numbers.”
Finland continues to support Ukraine in its defense against Russian invasion, he said. But you never say exactly what you’re giving her. “We don’t want our neighbor to read what we have and what we no longer have.”
Niinistö also said he expected Finland and Sweden to join NATO soon. “I’m very optimistic and I think we’ll both be members before the Vilnius summit.” The NATO summit will be held in the Lithuanian capital in July. The President said it was now in Turkey’s hands to make decisions. Turkey, which is blocking accession, has its own understanding of the matter. “We don’t know exactly what that is,” he added.