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UKRAINE

Norway and Ukraine pen security accord

Norway said on Monday that it has struck a security accord with Ukraine as it fights off the invasion by their mutual neighbour Russia.

Published: 16 April 2024 08:04 CEST
Pictured is Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (R) shakes hands with Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L)
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (R) shakes hands with Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) during a joint press conference following their talks in Kyiv on April 15, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)

“Norway will be providing long-term military, political, financial, and humanitarian support to Ukraine,” Norway Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said after meeting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

“The agreement demonstrates our clear political commitment to continue to stand by Ukraine, as we have done since Russia’s brutal, full-scale attack over two years ago,” he added in a statement.

He said the deal will be signed and made public during Zelensky’s next meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Its date has yet to be announced.

Ukraine is seeking to bolster ties with its allies and appealing to them for arms and munitions as it struggles to fend off Russia’s advance.

It has signed bilateral agreements with several other countries including Britain, France and Germany.

Norway has promised 75 billion kroner ($6.9 billion) in civil and military aid to Ukraine from 2023 to 2027.

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UKRAINE

Norway plans ‘significant increase’ in aid to Ukraine

Norway, proportionally one of the largest donors to Ukraine, is considering a "significant increase" in aid, the Nordic country's foreign minister said Monday.

Published: 23 April 2024 08:22 CEST
Norway plans 'significant increase' in aid to Ukraine

Norway has so for pledged some 75 billion kroner ($6.8 billion) in military and civilian aid to be distributed between 2023 and 2027.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre this weekend hinted that the amount could be increased.

“We’re talking about significant increase, I mean that is really relevant also compared with what we’ve done so far,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told an Oslo press briefing.

The minister, who visited Ukraine last week, added that they had not yet decided on a precise sum.

Ukraine, which is short on ammunition and recruits, has recently struggled on its eastern front in the face of a Russian offensive.

But it received a shot in the arm this weekend when the US House of Representatives adopted a $61-billion-dollar aid plan after drawn-out negotiations.

“The alarm bell has sounded across the West … The sense is that we all need to do more and that nobody has done enough,” Barth Eide said.

“We have to actually look into how this ends strategically, and Russia winning is not an option,” he added.

Norway — a major oil and gas producer that has benefited greatly from surging prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — is one of the main contributors to Ukraine, according to a ranking by the Kiel Institute.

While in Kyiv, Barth Eide announced that Norway and Ukraine had agreed to a security deal which would be signed at the next meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Norway’s Gahr Støre — though a date has yet to be announced.

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