“In our hearts, you have already won,” Sanna Marin tells Zelenskyy on his visit to Ukraine

Prime Minister of Finland True Marine has told the president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine that “in our hearts you have already won.”

Marin commented one surprise visit to Ukraine Friday, her second, where she and Zelenskyy laid flowers at a memorial wall for Ukrainians killed defending their homeland during the Russian invasion.

Finland’s prime minister, who is heading into a general election in early April, visited a memorial for a volunteer fighter killed in Bakhmut, and is the first volunteer to receive the title of “Hero of Ukraine”.

She told the media that she had visited a military hospital in Kiev where she met Ukrainian soldiers.

Finland is preparing its 14th aid package for Ukraine, and while most of the details are being kept secret, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically announced that Finland will provide an extra 29 million euros in humanitarian aid through the World Food Programme, as well as targeting vulnerable people, especially those with disabilities.

At a press conference in Kiev on Friday afternoon, President Zelenskyy said that “Finns understand what Ukraine is going through with Russia,” while Marin stressed that Finland was united in support of Ukraine’s cause.

“It is really important to have a face-to-face discussion about the situation in Ukraine. Ukraine needs both humanitarian and financial support, and above all, weapons and heavier armament,” said the Finnish Prime Minister.

Support for Ukraine’s “green reconstruction”

Sanna Marin traveled to Kiev together with the Minister of the Environment Maria Ohisalo. The couple arrived by train and were met at the station by Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister.

According to the Environment Ministry in Helsinki, Ohisalo is using the visit to “prepare cooperation to repair the extensive environmental damage caused by Russia’s war of aggression.”

The environmental damage in Ukraine has been described as a the “silent victims” of war., with official information showing that 1.24 million hectares of nature reserves were affected in the first year of the conflict; and 3 million hectares of forests affected, with 450,000 hectares under occupation or in combat zones.

In July 2022, Nordic Green Bank launched Nefco, which is owned by the five Nordic countries Green recovery for Ukraine program, to support Ukrainian communities to rebuild critical infrastructure in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden contributed an initial EUR 28 million in funds, while the EU provided an initial EUR 50 million to the programme.