Sweden, Ukraine agree to share intelligence, speed up aid delivery.

The Swedish Defense Ministry announced[1] on July 13 new agreements with Ukraine on intelligence sharing and speeding up military equipment delivery. Under this framework, Stockholm and Kyiv will be able to share confidential information concerning JAS Gripen jet fighters and other military equipment. Sweden has previously agreed[2] to train Ukrainian pilots on its Gripen jets but stopped short of providing the aircraft itself.

As another part of the new deal, the Swedish Defense Ministry will enable Ukraine to purchase military materiel directly from Sweden's defense industry to speed up the process. The deals were signed at the NATO Vilnius summit on July 12 by Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Sweden's Defense Minister Pal Jonson, and Goran Martensson, the director of the Swedish Defense Ministry's procurement agency. "With the signing of these agreements, we're taking further steps to help strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities and enable the purchase of newly produced defense equipment direct from the industry," Jonson commented.

"We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes for them to win the war, regain their freedom and rebuild their country." Representatives of Sweden and Ukraine, both seeking NATO membership, were present at the summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, which addressed both their entry bids and the Russo-Ukrainian War. Although Ukraine did not receive the much-desired invitation, the Group of Seven[3] has presented new security commitments to help Kyiv repel the Russian invasion and deter future aggression.

These commitments were supported in a joint statement[4] by the leaders of the Nordic countries, including Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland.

Sweden pledges £23.5 million aid package, confirms fighter jet training for Ukraine Sweden's Defense Ministry announced on June 16 its 12th aid package for Ukraine worth £23.5 million. Among others, it will include training Ukrainian pilots on JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets.

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

1. ^ announced (www.government.se)
2. ^ agreed (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ Group of Seven (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ joint statement (www.regjeringen.no)
5. ^ Sweden pledges £23.5 million aid package, confirms fighter jet training for UkraineSweden's Defense Ministry announced on June 16 its 12th aid package for Ukraine worth £23.5 million.

   Among others, it will include training Ukrainian pilots on JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. (kyivindependent.com)