German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underscored his support for Ukraine at a meeting with the prime ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland on Monday.

"We stand united in our support for Ukraine in its defense against the ongoing Russian aggression," Scholz said in Stockholm.

"We will continue to provide our support to Ukraine for as long as it takes."

The Swedish government said earlier that the leaders would "discuss security policy issues such as hybrid threats, civil preparedness and new technologies."

Scholz calls on Europe to support Ukraine

Scholz announced Germany would send a third Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, despite the German military not having many of the systems to begin with.

"But it was important to do that and we hope that some other European countries can follow," he said.

The chancellor added that Ukraine needs "a lot of munitions, artillery tanks and air defense, and especially Patriot and the IRIS-T system from Germany, which will be most helpful."

"We will support Ukraine as long as it takes," Scholz said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also emphasized the critical situation Ukraine currently faces on the battlefield.

Seeking common alliances

Prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden joined NATO in March while Finland acceded to the military alliance last year.

"We have long appreciated our neighbors, but at the same time underestimated the importance of concrete, operational cooperation," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote in an opinion piece in Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri.

"If you want to cooperate well, you have to meet, get to know each other and seek broader common alliances — in both NATO and the EU," Kristersson wrote.

Meanwhile, Denmark's Frederiksen pointed squarely at Russia as a potential threat to regional security.

"For decades, we have lived very peacefully and without very big threats to Europe. Personally, I think these times are over," Frederiksen said in quotes published by Danish broadcaster DR.

"With all that we see from the Russian side, we are at the beginning of a new era. It would be wrong if we, as a government, said that you don't have to deal with this in your everyday life." 

Scholz is expected to continue his visit to Sweden on Tuesday, when he is slated to hold bilateral talks with Kristersson.

zc/lo (dpa, AP, AFP)