Finland has taken the "historic" decision to supply weapons to Ukraine following Russia's invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.

Helsinki will send 1,500 rocket launchers, 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 rounds of ammunition, and 70,000 servings of field rations, said Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen.

"It is a historic decision for Finland," Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters.

Finland is one of five neutral European Union member states. It is not a member of NATO, although it does have partnership status with the US-led military alliance.

Swedish companies freeze Russian business

Several companies in neighbouring Sweden said they had either halted production, stopped sales or paused deliveries to Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Truck maker Volvo said it had informed suppliers on Friday that it would no longer accept deliveries to the factory in Kaluga, some 150 kilometres (93 miles) southwest of Moscow.

"As a consequence the production line was stopped this morning," Volvo spokesman Claes Eliasson told AFP.

"The reason is in part the sanctions that have come into effect and the general security situation in the region," he added, saying production would remain halted "until further notice".

Sales were stopped in Russia as well as in Ukraine due to the deteriorating security situation as Moscow's invasion of its neighbour entered its fifth day.

Sales in Russia and Ukraine accounted for 3.5% of the truck maker's revenue in 2021 and around 5,000 trucks are produced at the Kaluga plant a year, according to Eliasson.

UK bans Russian vessels, freezes assets of banks

The UK said it would freeze the assets of all Russian banks over the invasion of Ukraine, tightening the international economic stranglehold on Moscow over its "unjustified aggression".

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK wants "a situation where they (Russia) can't access their funds, their trade can't flow, their ships can't dock and their planes can't land".

More than 50 per cent of Russian trade is denominated in dollars or sterling and the new powers "will damage Russia's ability to trade with the world", she told parliament.

At the same time, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps ordered all UK seaports to turn away Russian vessels, having already barred Russian aircraft, including oligarch jets.

The banning order applied to "any ship which they have reason to believe is owned, controlled or operated by any person connected with Russia" or on a sanctions list, "flying the Russian flag; registered in Russia", he tweeted.

Hungary will not allow Ukraine-bound weapons to pass

Hungary said it would not allow weapons to be transported through its territory after the European Union pledged military aid to Kyiv.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sought to foster close ties with Moscow but Hungary has closed ranks with the rest of the EU on tough sanctions against Russia.

"We will not allow the transfer of deadly weapons across the Hungarian territory," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook.

He said the decision was taken to ensure the safety of Hungarians both in their country and across the border in Ukraine.

"These shipments can easily become the target of military attacks," Szijjarto said.

"Our most important task is to guarantee the safety of the country and the Hungarian people, therefore we must not get involved in the war taking place next door."

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.