Finland is beginning to explore the possibility of manufacturing Finnish armoured vehicles in Ukraine as a response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's request on Wednesday.
In practice, the proposal could mean licensed production of Finnish defence firm Patria's armoured vehicles in Ukraine. Patria has had a similar arrangement with Poland.
"We will, of course, explore all possibilities to support Ukraine," Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) said on Thursday morning.
She added that it was important to foster defence industrial cooperation in Europe.
"If we take a long-term view, we in Europe have a vested interest in boosting the defence industry, and we in Finland of course have a huge amount of expertise in this area," the Foreign Minister said.
Sweden agreed earlier this month to start manufacturing Swedish-developed armoured personnel carriers (APC) in Ukraine.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv has asked various countries for a wide range of arms assistance.
Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) noted that Ukraine has shown interest in Finnish arms companies.
"I believe that there are certainly opportunities for cooperation if there is a clear will to do so. But we must remember that when we talk about changes in production systems, there are quite a few challenges in the conflict zone. This is something we are going through thoroughly, it is nothing new," Häkkänen said on Thursday morning.
For Patria, agreeing on licensed manufacturing with Ukraine is a demanding solution. The country is at war and the conditions are difficult.
The fastest way for Ukraine to get Patria's armoured vehicles would be for the countries that use them to donate their own stocks and order more from Patria themselves.
Government considers granting Patria export licences to UAE
Patria is also looking to renew an arms export licence to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following its suspension five years ago. In the past, the company has supplied armoured vehicles to the country.
According to Yle sources, the licence would cover spare parts and maintenance of the supplied vehicles.
The UAE has been linked to the civil war in Yemen, considered by many in the international community to be a major humanitarian crisis.
The government of Juha Sipilä, led by the Centre Party, suspended the granting of new arms export licences to the UAE at the end of 2018. The suspension also applied, at least for Patria's new licences, during the government of Sanna Marin (SDP).
However, Finland still issued licences for other arms exports to the UAE in 2020.
The general policy of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government is that it wants to boost Finland's defence sector's ambitions.
"The better our security of supply in times of crisis, the better our military security," Häkkänen said.
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