Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Ukraine would receive about 90% of the drones that Finnish companies build under a planned Finland–Ukraine framework agreement, Mi-Ukraina reported on 26 August. Three days earlier in Kyiv, he said the other 10% would stay in Finland.

The planned arrangement follows a broader European shift toward co-production with Ukraine rather than supplying weapons from existing stockpiles. Drones have shaped much of the fighting on both sides since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, and Russia has repeatedly struck defense plants inside Ukraine—a Bayraktar plant under construction in Kyiv was hit four times in six months by August 2025—pushing Ukrainian makers to expand production into allied countries, Finland among them.

Asked what still had to be agreed before production could begin, Stubb said nothing did.

"Everything is done. There is a so-called framework agreement on drones that we're working on. It's more about cooperation between states—that is, Zelenskyy and me. And the companies between themselves do what they have to do. I think the doors are already open," Stubb said.

He said the 90/10 ratio is common practice in corporate contracts and that companies would determine the pace of production after finalizing their decisions. Some details could remain classified because of military secrecy, he said.

At a press conference on 23 August after the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit with Ukraine, Stubb had described the deal as still taking shape. He said seven Finnish defense companies interested in cooperation with Ukraine, including on maritime drone production, had traveled to Kyiv with him and that one had already provided production estimates.

"The companies are making actual deals. I'm looking forward to the results, but it seems one of the companies has already provided data on the number of drones that can be produced in Finland. And I think the deal will follow approximately the so-called 90/10 proportion. So 90% of the output is supplied to Ukraine, and 10% stays in Finland," Stubb said, according to Unian.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 23 August that three of the seven Finnish companies present had already signed agreements for joint production, including drones. Yle identified the three as Patria, Insta, and Boomeranger, saying they had signed letters of intent with Ukrainian counterparts. Patria and the Ukrainian company General Chereshnia signed a memorandum of intent to produce defense drones in Finland, Patria announced.

Separately, Ukrainian drone maker Airlogix and Finnish technology company Innokas signed a letter of intent to establish joint drone manufacturing in Finland under Ukraine's "Build with Ukraine" initiative. Ukrainian firm TAF Industries and Finnish company Summa Defence had signed a similar agreement earlier under the same initiative.

Zelenskyy said the cooperation would combine Ukrainian combat experience with Finnish technology. Stubb said Finland already faces hybrid attacks, from undersea cable sabotage to drones, and treats sabotage as a standing risk to the plants, adding that Finland ranks among the largest per-capita suppliers of military equipment to Ukraine.

From support to co-production—and a two-way expertise swap

Stubb said the planned arrangement is not far from Denmark's model of directly financing Ukrainian defense production, according to Yle.

Zelenskyy said the agreements cover drones built in Finland for Ukraine and Europe, expanded maritime unmanned systems, and a plant for ground robotic systems, and Stubb said the documents signed during the visit concerned air, land, and sea.

The Finnish president said in the Mi-Ukraina interview that Europe's relationship with Ukraine has changed since the full-scale invasion. Ukraine once needed European support, while Europe now needs Ukraine's battlefield experience, he said. What Finland learned, by his account: trench warfare is over, a 40-kilometer kill zone means tanks firing at shorter range have no role, and Ukraine holds more data on modern war than the rest of Europe combined.

Finland's parliament voted on June 19 to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, citing growing security concerns from Russia's aggressive posture and the threat it poses to the region, Reuters reported.

The vote aligns Finland with its Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, whose parliaments have already approved similar exits from the treaty.

Defending the decision earlier this week, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the security reality along Finland's 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia had changed dramatically since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to TVP.

"The reality in the endgame is that we have as our neighboring country an aggressive, imperialist state called Russia, which itself is not a member of the Ottawa Treaty and which itself uses landmines ruthlessly," Stubb said.

Russia has widely deployed landmines across Ukrainian territory since launching its invasion in 2022, a tactic condemned by human rights organizations and Western governments.

Finland, which joined NATO in 2023, has significantly ramped up its defense posture amid growing concern over potential Russian provocations. The country closed its border with Russia over a year ago, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a "hybrid operation" by directing asylum seekers toward Finnish territory. Helsinki claims such hybrid tactics have intensified since it joined the alliance.

The Finnish Border Guard completed the first 35 kilometers (22 miles) of a planned 200-kilometer (124-mile) fence along its eastern frontier on May 21. The move came amid growing evidence of Russian military infrastructure expansion near the Finnish border.

Finland is "closely monitoring and assessing Russia's activities and intentions," Finland's Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP on May 22.

"We have excellent capabilities to observe Russian operations. As a member of the alliance, Finland holds a strong security position."

Russia's Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said in December 2024 that Moscow must be ready for a potential conflict with NATO within the next decade. Western officials have repeatedly warned of the possibility that Moscow could target NATO members in the coming years.

Diplomacy in crisis: G7 letdowns reveal limits to Western solidarity on Ukraine

KANANASKIS, Canada — The Group of Seven (G7) Leaders’ Summit ended on June 17 with no joint statement in support of Ukraine, no commitments to provide desperately needed U.S. weapons, and no meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump. The Ukrainian delegation headed into the summit,

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat