Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Swedish capital Stockholm on Saturday. At a press conference with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the Ukrainian thanked the Scandinavian country for the support and condemned a Russian rocket attack on the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine that killed several people and injured many.
According to Kristersson, the two signed a letter of intent to jointly produce, train and maintain the Combat Vehicle 90, a Swedish tank. “Ukraine is fighting for us, for all European democracies,” said Kristersson. However, Kristersson did not respond to Zelenskyj’s demand for the delivery of the Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet.
However, Denmark and the Netherlands had already declared their willingness to deliver the F-16 fighter jet from the USA. A coalition led by the two countries formed within NATO in the summer to train Ukrainian pilots to use the F-16. Belgium and Norway are also considered possible suppliers of the US jets.
Further talks planned
Zelenskyi announced on Sunday that he would “hold talks with other countries that support us so that they can provide us with the necessary equipment to win this war”. It was initially not officially confirmed whether Selenskyj wanted to visit other Nordic countries. According to the Swedish news agency TT, however, Denmark was preparing for a visit.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had previously announced that she would visit Skrydstrup Air Base at 3 p.m. on Sunday, together with Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen and Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The Danish F-16s are stationed there.
Selenskyj was accompanied on the visit to Sweden by his wife Olena Selenska. Besides Kristersson, he also wanted to meet King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia as well as MPs.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for almost 18 months now. Sweden, on the other hand, decided to join NATO in the face of Russian aggression.
