In Oslo, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held meetings with Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian Minister of Defense Tore Sandvik, Eirik Lie, CEO of the Norwegian defense company Kongsberg, and its representatives, as well as President of the Storting Masud Gharahkhani and the leaders of all political parties represented in parliament.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Jonas Gahr Støre continued coordinating their next joint steps toward a just peace.
According to the Head of State, a lot depends on whether the American side manages to hear something new from Russia today – about peace, not about continuing the war.
The President thanked all of Norway and Jonas Gahr Støre personally for their leadership in supporting Ukraine in defense, the economy, and diplomacy.
During the meeting with Norway’s Defense Minister and the leadership of Kongsberg, which produces NASAMS air defense systems, they discussed further cooperation. Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that these systems effectively protect our people and critical infrastructure from Russian missile and drone strikes virtually every day. Ukraine counts on additional defense support packages next month.
Norway is also actively involved in the European anti-ballistic program FREYJA. There are already initial results in developing individual components of the system. During the meeting, they identified where work can and must be accelerated to begin testing by the end of this year.
Special attention was paid to starting work on new satellite communications capabilities for Ukrainian warriors. Partners with the capacity to provide support will be involved.
The Head of State discussed with the President of the Storting and the leaders of all political parties the decisions that can support Ukraine now, when Russia is striking our country virtually every hour.
In particular, they discussed financial assistance and Ukraine’s defense budget shortfall.
The President emphasized that alongside support from the European Union, support from countries that are not EU members but assist Ukraine bilaterally is also important. Norway is ready to help our country.
“We are very grateful for your resolute support for our country, our people, and our warriors. This is very important. We are also grateful for the decisions on energy support,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
They separately discussed joint efforts to bring home Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
“We also talked about shelters that could be useful for our children during the winter, amid all these attacks, especially in schools,” the President said.
The President of the Storting emphasized that the Norwegian parliament would continue supporting Ukraine.
“We in this parliament do not abandon our friends and allies in times of need, nor do we compromise our values. When it comes to investing in our own defense and supporting Ukraine, all political forces in this parliament are united: you are among friends here,” Masud Gharahkhani noted.
