The next package of military assistance Sweden has allocated to Ukraine is 50% more than the previous one and includes air defense equipment. The country's Defense Minister Paul Johnson said this on Sunday at a press conference in Odessa during his visit to Ukraine.

A few weeks ago, the government adopted the ninth package of support for Ukraine, it is already 50 percent more if you compare it to the eighth, the Ukrainian publication European Pravda quoted Johnson as saying. "In this package we provide air defense, also ammunition for another type of air defense, and also, of course, there is a package related to preparation for winter," the Swedish defense minister said.

He reminded that on January 1 Sweden would take over the presidency of the European Union and promised that protecting Ukrainian interests would be an important task for Stockholm.

According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, his Swedish counterpart became the 18th foreign defense chief to arrive in Ukraine since the start of hostilities in late February.

The Swedish parliament in mid-November supported the government's proposal to donate 3.0078 billion kroner (more than $284 million) worth of military equipment to Ukraine this year. We are talking about air defense equipment and its ammunition, off-road vehicles, winter uniforms, personal protective equipment and tents.