President of Finland explains why Hornet fighter jets cannot be delivered to Ukraine yet
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö explained that Finland cannot give Ukraine Hornet fighter jets until it receives new aircraft.
He said this when answering questions from journalists at a joint press conference with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"Our position is geographically significantly different from most EU and NATO countries... We once bought Hornets, and now we are replacing them with F35s. This is a very large expenditure for a small country like ours... But we know that we need a strong defense. We can't give up the Hornet until we get the new aircraft. And, unfortunately, by that time, the Hornets will be virtually useless," he said.
He also noted that when it comes to the discussion about aircraft for Ukraine, it concerns the issue of F16 fighters.
"We don't have them, we have Hornet fighters, they are quite old," he added.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Zelensky arrived in Finland on Wednesday for a visit, where he will participate in the Ukraine-Northern Europe summit.
On the sidelines of the summit, the head of state will also hold separate bilateral meetings with the prime ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
Finland has already provided Ukraine with military assistance worth more than 900 million euros.