Sweden promises to send cannons to Ukraine ‘as soon as possible’

KIEV (AP) — Sweden pledged on Wednesday to send its fearsome Archer guns to Ukraine “as soon as possible,” but warned that future military aid would depend on its own defense needs, given its attempt to join the NATO military alliance.

During a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the Archer howitzers and 51 combat vehicles promised by Sweden will be “a significant contribution to Ukraine’s combat power”.

The promised military aid package comes as Ukraine tenaciously clings to the country’s eastern territory against further Russian attacks.

During a press conference in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kristersson declined to reveal when the Archers would arrive for security reasons and “practical reasons like training and things like that”.

But he said training would start “very soon” and the Archers would be delivered “as soon as possible”.

As for the order of fighter jets from kyiv, Kristersson did not exclude this possibility. But he hinted that Sweden did not want to be the sole supplier and that other countries would have to agree to the idea of ​​sending planes, just as they agreed to send NATO-style tanks to Ukraine.

“We are not ruling anything out at the moment, now is not the time to rule anything out,” the Swedish prime minister said. “But at the same time, we also recognize the fact that we need an international coalition to take further steps. It’s obvious “.