Dear attendees!
Dear Jonas, Mr. Prime Minister!
Our esteemed teams, journalists!
First of all, I want to thank you, Jonas, for your visit today, on your birthday – let me congratulate you – and at such a moment: the day after we marked Ukraine’s Independence Day. It means a lot to us that you support our state in this way, and that the people of Norway support us, support our people, at such a difficult time. Thank you. Ukraine will always value Norway’s sincere engagement with us.
Dear journalists!
Norway is one of the leaders in supporting Ukraine, and this includes support for our defense in the war and, without a doubt, for our Ukrainian resilience. Much has already been done, and today’s meeting can also yield good results. First, I want to thank you for the decision to allocate USD 700 million for the procurement of the Patriot air defense system, which was announced yesterday. This will noticeably strengthen our air defense. Thank you. I am referring specifically to the purchase of systems that we, as you know, are lacking and that pose a challenge for us. Systems of this type have already saved thousands of our people’s lives and are highly effective against Russian ballistic missiles. All partners are aware of our air defense needs, and we hope that Norway’s example of assistance in this area will also be followed by other partners and countries, including Scandinavian states. I also want to express special thanks for the delivery of NASAMS – our military greatly values the quality of the NASAMS systems. And they – these systems – have also significantly helped us, especially during winter. And I am confident that we should reach a point where the joint production of NASAMS in Ukraine will become possible. Today, we discussed our defense needs – the situation on the front, the battlefield, the capabilities of our warriors, the key threats, and cooperation programs for purchasing weapons for Ukraine. Norway has joined the PURL program, which enables the purchase of weapons in the United States, and our goal is to fund this program with no less than one billion dollars monthly, as I have already stated. We also discussed our Ukrainian drone production and our joint capabilities with partners – investments now can help. And they can help not only with physical defense on the front but also with forcing Russia to end this war. Today, I asked that the Prime Minister consider allocating the remaining funds for this year from the Nansen Programme specifically for drones. This is very, very significant. The more drones we have – for protecting our positions and for long-range strikes – the more serious will be the pressure on Russia to make peace. I am also grateful to Norway for supporting sanctions. Sanctions against Russia must remain in force for as long as the Russian Federation’s aggression and occupation of our territory continue.
We had a very substantive discussion about our cooperation in the energy sector. Norway is making one of the main contributions to ensuring Ukraine’s energy security, and this is clearly felt by us. Russia is attempting to disrupt our preparations for winter, striking our energy infrastructure. And this affects not only electricity and heat generation but also our domestic natural gas production. Therefore, we highly value the assistance Norway provides to Ukraine, specifically for gas procurement. This directly helps protect lives and maintain normal living conditions in our cities and communities. Last winter, at least one million Ukrainian families had heat thanks to our cooperation with Norway. This year, the challenges are also significant. Norway has already made decisions regarding support for our gas purchases, and we very much count on Norway’s next steps.
Norway is actively working within the Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children – we spoke of this today – children kidnapped by Russia. We also discussed efforts in this area. And we must bring back from Russia all Ukrainian children, all adults: all our servicemembers and civilians who still remain there in captivity. Yesterday, there was an exchange – I thank our teams. We managed to return, among others, civilians whom Russia had held since 2022, and we continue working on this – we verify everything on each name, we search for our people, and we must bring back everyone, and we will bring back everyone. Thank you for your assistance in this.
Of course, Jonas and I had an in-depth discussion about the diplomatic prospects and work on security guarantees for Ukraine. Norway is one of the participants in the Coalition of the Willing, and Ukraine hopes that Norway will engage practically in measures that must truly ensure long-term security for our people, our state, and for everyone in Europe. Thank you again, Jonas, for your visit, your support, and such strong decisions.
Glory to Ukraine!