In remarks made to news agency STT, Sauli Niinistö added that Finland also stands ready to contribute in case a European joint defense package of aid for Ukraine is established.This echoes recent comments from other senior Finnish political figures, such as Defense Minister Mikko Savola, who announced last Saturday that Finland is preparing its 12th aid package to Ukraine and is considering sending battle tanks.The chair of the Finnish parliament’s defense committee, Antti Häkkänen, has also said that Finland is ready to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine, but in a recent interview said that big NATO countries such as France and Germany must take the lead.Berlin has so far been reluctant to send heavy German weaponry to Kyiv, even if it comes from another EU member state, but there could be signs of a thaw in its position on the issue.Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that a Polish “company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building,” adding that “such a decision is already [taken] in Poland.”In response to Duda’s comments, German Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck, who also oversees arms export controls, dismissed concerns that Germany might not allow this."