Kyiv has secured pledges from several Western nations to supply modern battlefield tanks to help fend off Russia's invasion, as Moscow bids to make incremental advances in eastern Ukraine.
The three tanks to be donated by Finland, which shares a 1,300-km border with Russia, have been built on the base of 2A4 type Leopards equipped with machine guns and are intended to be used to clear ground mines before the main battle tanks are brought onto the battle field, defence minister Mikko Savola said.
"These are front-line vehicles," he told reporters.
Finnish president Sauli Niinisto in January said Finland would participate in a European donation of battle tanks, adding that Finland's contribution would be modest to avoid compromising its own security.
"Finland's share of tanks to be donated to Ukraine cannot be very significant. We have a long eastern border to defend, we are still not NATO members and we cannot compromise our own security," Savola said.
Finland has slightly fewer than 200 Leopard 2 tanks.
Finland would not reveal the timetable of the tank delivery for security reasons, he added.
The value of Finland's newest defence aid package to Ukraine will amount to 160 million euros ($169 million), including the three Leopards, training and other equipment, the ministry said.
($1 = 0.9444 euros)
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Essi Lehto, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Bernadette Baum)
