Finland's Orpo lands in Kyiv to back Ukraine through winter and EU reforms

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo touched down in Kyiv on Thursday, October 22, for a visit his government says is about standing squarely behind Ukraine as another wartime winter closes in. Orpo is set to sit down with Ukraine's political leadership during the trip, according to a Finnish government press release carried by Ukrinform.

The timing is the message. Finland wants to show its backing not just on the battlefield but on the reform track, with Helsinki arguing that the changes Ukraine needs for EU membership matter for its people, its companies and its economic rebuild — not only for Brussels paperwork.

The numbers behind that support are hefty. Finland has committed close to EUR 5 billion to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began, with EUR 3.6 billion of that arriving as defense materiel. Measured against the size of its economy, Finland ranks among Ukraine's most committed backers.

Orpo's schedule also leans into business. A Ukrainian-Finnish forum is being staged alongside the visit, drawing representatives from more than ten Finnish companies plus other participants — a signal that reconstruction is on the agenda, not just weapons.

This is familiar ground for Orpo, who was last in Ukraine in May 2025 and had visited earlier in August 2023. His arrival comes two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Oslo on October 20.

At a joint press conference there, Stubb said talks involving Ukraine, the United States and European partners had moved the peace process forward on two fronts: the broad vision and the shorter-term outlook. Orpo's Kyiv stop now adds another European voice to that push.