Ukrainian president, Canadian minister meet on cooperation

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on Feb 14, 2023, shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) welcoming Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly prior to their meeting in Kyiv.
(PHOTO / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)

KYIV/HELSINKI – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly to discuss cooperation between their countries in security and defense sectors, the presidential press service said Tuesday, as official data showed the deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in goods in 2022 amounted to about $11.125 billion, more than doubling compared to 2021.

During the talks, Zelensky thanked Canada for its support and assistance to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia, stressing the importance of the decision to provide Leopard battle tanks.

Zelensky also briefed Joly on the current priority needs of the Ukrainian military.

"Your support for the Ukrainian army is invaluable in these turbulent times for us," Zelensky emphasized.

In the meeting, Zelensky and Joly exchanged their views on the Peace Formula on ending the conflict and talked about Ukraine's post-conflict reconstruction.

Ukraine's State Statistics Service said the country exported goods worth $44.149 billion in 2022, down 35.1 percent compared with 2021, and the country's imports decreased by 24.1 percent to $55.274 billion

The parties also discussed the prospects for Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

On the same day, Ukraine's State Statistics Service said the country exported goods worth $44.149 billion in 2022, down 35.1 percent compared with 2021, and the country's imports decreased by 24.1 percent to $55.274 billion.

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Exports of ferrous metals and grain saw the biggest decline in the period, shrinking by 67.5 and 26.2 percent respectively.

Products of animal origin, mineral fuels, oil products, and fats were Ukraine's main export items last year.

Finland's policy position destablized

Separately, foreign and security policy changes, especially the conflict in Ukraine, have destabilized Finland's policy position, according to an update to the government's national risk assessment.

The assessment published by Finland's Ministry of the Interior covers 21 nationally significant threat scenarios and disruptions, ranging from hybrid influence activities and armed conflicts to natural disasters, industrial accidents and climate phenomena.

The previous risk assessment was published in 2018.

Rescuers work on a residential building destroyed after a missile strike, in Dnipro on Jan 14, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

Foreign and security policy changes, especially the conflict in Ukraine, have destabilized Finland's policy position, according to an update to the government's national risk assessment

The assessment anticipates sudden incidents targeted at Finland that have an impact on the vital functions of society and require the authorities to adopt exceptional measures or even request help from other countries.

According to the report, climate change, the digitalization of societies, hybrid influence activities and networked value and production chains are further examples of development trends and phenomena in the operating environment of threats and disruptions.

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There are two new threats compared with the previous report: multiple simultaneous large wildfires and an extremely powerful space storm, national broadcaster Yle said.

There is also a high probability of a new pandemic, the report noted. However, it is impossible to estimate the magnitude of the risk and the severity of the pandemic in advance, it said.