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DENMARK AND UKRAINE

Danish PM Frederiksen addresses Ukraine’s parliament after F-16 pledge

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen addressed the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday on a visit to Kyiv after pledging to supply Ukraine with 19 F-16 fighter jets.

Danish PM Frederiksen addresses Ukraine’s parliament after F-16 pledge
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen addresses the Ukrainian parliament during her visit, in Kyiv on September 6th. Photo: Andrii Nesterenko/AFP/Ritzau Scanpix

Frederiksen was greeted by applause in Ukraine’s parliament during a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday. The Danish PM was also involved in long conversations with Ukrainian MPs at the parliament.

The visit comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month visited Copenhagen for the announcement of Denmark’s donation of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine’s defence against the Russian invasion.

READ ALSO: What did Ukrainian president Zelensky say in Copenhagen speeches?

“Thank you for the F-16s,” Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on social media after the prime minister announced the donation in August.

“The devastation of the war is heartbreaking,” Frederiksen said in her speech in Kyiv according to news wire Ritzau’s report.

“Families have lost their homes. Mothers have had to be parted from their sons. Words cannot describe what you have had to go through,” she said.

“You and Ukraine are still standing. The world has seen the incredible strength of the Ukrainian people,” she said.

Frederiksen was invited to speak at the parliament by Zelensky during his visit to Denmark in August. Wednesday’s visit is her third to Ukraine.

Denmark has pledged an additional 300 million kroner to be spent on reconstruction and humanitarian aid among other projects aimed at helping the Ukrainian population through the coming winter.

Shortages of water, heat and electricity are likely in cities worst-hit by the fighting.

The additional 300 million are part of a 1.5 billion-kroner fund set aside for Ukraine in the draft budget for 2024.

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DENMARK AND UKRAINE

Denmark earmarks 2.3 billion kroner for artillery to Ukraine

Denmark's government has announced that the Nordic country will donate 2.3 billion kroner ($337 million) to pay for artillery pieces, mortars and ammunition for Ukraine as it fights off Russia's invasion.

Denmark earmarks 2.3 billion kroner for artillery to Ukraine

It said the donation will pay for French-made Caesar artillery systems, mortars and ammunition to go with them and will be financed through a fund set up for Ukraine, valued at 69.1 billion kroner.

“Artillery systems and mortars are highly sought after by Ukraine”, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement on Tuesday.

“These donations are being made in cooperation with our allies and are an important signal that on a broad front we are supporting Ukraine.”

The Caesars are financed in cooperation with France, while 155mm shells to go with them are funded jointly with Estonia and the Czech Republic, the government said.

It did not give specific details of the arrangements for channelling the funds and sending the arms to Ukraine.

Kyiv has appealed for more arms, warning that it is running out of ammunition as it tries to fight off Russia.

In January, France announced a coalition to supply Ukraine with more artillery, bringing together more than 50 countries, and provided funding to buy 12 additional pieces produced by France’s Nexter, while calling on its allies to fund more.

Denmark is the fourth largest donor of military aid to Ukraine, according to the German based Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

The country signed a 10-year security agreement with Kyiv at the end of February, following similar agreements signed by Berlin, London and Paris.

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