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Sanna Marin (middle) in Irpin
Photo: STRINGER / REUTERS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin for helping her country.
Marin visited Kyiv on Thursday, as had previously been the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
"Finland's military support is very valuable to us," Zelenskyj wrote on Facebook afterwards.
"Weapons, sanctions and the unity of our partners in relation to Ukraine's accession to the EU - this can give our country strength for defense." Zelenskyj's office said that Ukrainians praised Marin for her "heroic spirit". , which they showed in the war.
The Finnish leader said Russia's actions in Ukraine are a turning point for the world and relations with Moscow could not return to what they were before the invasion.
Marin also visited the cities of Irpin and Bucha, where Russian troops are believed to have committed war crimes.
"We, Finland, support any action by the International Criminal Court to investigate these crimes, gather evidence and convict Russia."
Russia's leadership had rejected the allegations as "monstrous forgery".
Finland and Sweden have applied to join the western defense alliance NATO.
Immediately afterwards, according to the Finnish state gas company Gasum, Gazprom announced that it would stop gas imports from Russia.
According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian armed forces are meanwhile pushing ahead with their major offensive in the Donbass.
»The occupiers shelled more than 40 towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and destroyed or damaged 47 civilian facilities, including 38 houses and a school.
As a result of this shelling, five civilians died and 12 were wounded,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook.
The Ukrainian army repelled ten enemy attacks, destroyed four tanks and four drones and killed 62 "enemy soldiers".
Zelenskyy said Russian troops "greatly outnumbered" them in some parts of the east.
The reports of the fighting cannot be independently verified.
British Foreign Secretary accuses Putin of grain blackmail
Meanwhile, the war is contributing to a growing global food crisis: Ukraine's Black Sea ports have been blocked since Russia invaded in February, and more than 20 million tons of grain are stuck in Ukrainian warehouses.
Almost a third of global wheat supplies come from Russia and Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of blackmailing the world by supplying food.
It is appalling how he uses hunger and lack of food as a weapon among the poorest people in the world, she says during a visit to Bosnia.
“We just can't let that happen.
Putin must lift the blockade on Ukrainian grain.«
According to the Russian account, the West is responsible for this by imposing sanctions on Russia.
The government in Moscow categorically rejects accusations that Russia is blocking exports, says presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
"On the contrary, we blame Western countries for taking measures that led to this."
On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said Russia is ready to open a corridor for ships bringing grain from Ukraine.
In return, however, some sanctions against Russia would have to be lifted.
Truss rejects this: "What we cannot have is lifting the sanctions, an appeasement that will only make Putin stronger in the long term."
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), more and more countries are getting into difficulties as a result of the increased food prices on the world markets.
"In the meantime, almost 30 countries have had problems with their balance of payments because of food prices," IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva told SPIEGEL.
“Some of them have asked us for support.
We help them with a special fund for poor countries at zero percent interest.« In addition, it is being examined what international institutions could do to make food production more efficient: »We have to expand the offer.«
pbe/Reuters
