Nordic and Baltic countries will train and equip a Ukrainian military brigade in 2025, the Danish and Estonian governments reported.
This comes as international efforts to support Ukraine’s military. Countries such as France, the United States, and potentially Nordic and Baltic nations have been involved in training and equipping Ukrainian brigades. France, for example, has trained and equipped a brigade named after Anne of Kyiv, while the US is training a new brigade in Germany.
Denmark has allocated an additional 2 billion Danish kroner (approximately $280 million) to Ukraine, according to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“The money will go, among other things, to ammunition for Ukrainian soldiers and building up Ukrainian forces the size of a brigade together with the Nordic and Baltic countries,” Frederiksen said.
During his visit to Kyiv, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Mihal explained that this project involves military training and equipping the unit with all necessary gear and ammunition. Specific steps will be agreed upon in the near future.
The minister said that Estonia would increase military aid to Ukraine this year by another quarter, purchasing an additional 10,000 shells for €25 million ($26 mn). “This will be added to the previously promised aid from Estonia’s defense industry worth €100 million ($105 mn),” Mihal said.
Mihal emphasized that now is the time to do “more and faster.”
“Ukrainians have fought heroically for three years in defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion,” said Frederiksen.
Sweden also announced plans to provide Ukraine with air defense systems worth 1.2 billion Swedish kronor (about $113 million).
The Nordic-Baltic cooperation (NB8) includes Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Their joint initiative comes as Ukraine marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Some 13 leaders are expected to attend the summit in Kyiv in person, while 24 will participate online, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.
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