Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the US Military Command in Europe, Finland closed two border crossings with Russia.
 |
| Border patrol in Nuijamaa, Finland, not far from the country's border with Russia, on March 18, 2022. (Source: Getty) |
According to Kyiv Independent , on December 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the US Army European Command, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany.
On social network X (formerly Twitter), President Zelensky said that the visit was made after a visit to Norway. He was "convinced once again of the excellent quality of US military aid to Ukraine", and affirmed that this aid was really needed to win the war with Russia. He expected "the US Congress to soon pass an important decision" to continue supporting Ukraine.
The Ukrainian head of state has visited several countries in recent days, including Argentina, the United States and Norway, in an effort to rally support for Ukraine amid concerns about growing hesitation among allies.
The U.S. Senate recently passed a record $886 billion defense spending bill that includes $300 million under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This is a separate bill with an unapproved $111 billion funding request, including more than $61 billion for Ukraine.
The US European Command coordinates partner support for Ukraine. The brief visit coincides with talks at the European Union (EU) summit in Brussels on allowing Ukraine to begin accession negotiations with the EU. Later that evening, European Council President Charles Michel announced that the Council had decided to begin accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
In another development on the same day, the Finnish government said the Nordic country will close its land border crossings with Russia again, officially from December 15, 2023 to January 14, 2024.
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said that after the country opened two border crossings, the flow of refugees showed signs of increasing again and this posed a challenge to national security. The document also stated that the two border crossings, Vaalimaa and Niirala, would be closed on the evening of December 15 at 8 p.m. (local time). Thus, all land border crossings between Finland and Russia will be closed until January 14, 2024.
On November 28, the Finnish government first announced the closure of all eight land border crossings with Russia, also in an attempt to stem the flow of refugees and illegal migrants. On December 12, Helsinki announced the reopening of the Vaalimaa and Niirala border crossings, but reversed the decision just two days later.
Finland shares a 1,340 km border with Russia. After being admitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 2023, the country's border became NATO's common border.
Source
Comment (0)