Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has clarified that Helsinki has not requested Ukraine to halt or scale back its military strikes against Russian targets, even after a recent incident involving stray drones landing on Finnish soil.
The clarification follows a statement made earlier by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who indicated that certain allied nations had signaled a desire for Kyiv to reduce its long-range attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure. In an interview with the Finnish broadcaster Yle, Valtonen firmly distanced Finland from such demands.
"Ukraine is allowed to defend itself. We do not make any demands on Ukraine regarding which targets it seeks to influence in Russia," the Foreign Minister stated, emphasizing that Ukraine is actively engaged in a defensive war.
The diplomatic exchange comes on the heels of an airspace violation on Sunday, March 29, when several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) crossed into southeastern Finland and crashed. Authorities identified at least one of the devices as a Ukrainian An-196 'Liutyi' drone.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo noted that the crashed drones were likely of Ukrainian origin, an unintended consequence of Kyiv's operations targeting Russian military and industrial sites in the neighboring Leningrad region. Following the incident, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal apology to Helsinki.
While maintaining strong support for Ukraine, Valtonen stressed that the safety of Finnish residents remains a top priority. To mitigate future risks, Finland is currently accelerating the development of a comprehensive anti-drone defense system, which is expected to become operational within the next few months.
In response to the airspace breach, the Finnish parliamentary defense committee scheduled an extraordinary session for Tuesday, March 31, to address urgent national defense matters and review the drone incidents in detail.
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