Prime Minister Støre’s statement at the press conference after meeting with Ukraine’s president Zelenskyj

Full transcript of the statement

Mr. President, dear Volodymyr,

Thank you so much. This is a day of special meaning to me. Coming here as your guest on the National Day of Independence has a special meaning. When you spoke to the Norwegian Parliament on link you made a reference to our 17^th of May, which is our National Day. It is a very cherished day in my country, our independence is longer than yours, but it is deep in our hearts.

So, to be invited here today, on this very special day, means a lot to me, and it is underlining our friendship and our commitment. I thank you again for your hospitality, and the contact that we have on regular basis and also with your team. We have got to know a fine group of people who are committed to defend their country and to develop democracy and values in Europe, which is key to your survival as a modern state – and therefore also key to Norway and the continent on which we live. That is why we have supported Ukraine’s security by bilateral support but also in multilateral setting in the Euro-Atlantic family, in NATO and also supporting your European ambitions.

We have, as you said Mr. President, voted in the Parliament – and now with the support of all parties – a five-year programme to support Ukraine. It is about one and a half billion dollars a year, for five years. Every country will have to decide the sum of support, in terms of amount, but for us it was important to show to you, to your government, to your people, to the men in the trenches, that we are there for the long haul, and this is not a one-off operation.

So, we have been focused on aiding Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s needs, in close dialogue with you, with our Allies, coordinating help so that we don’t create bottlenecks, but as we respond to your civilian needs, your reconstruction needs, and your military needs. You have the right to defend yourselves and we have the right to help you to defend yourselves, because these are key principles in the international system.

I announce today four contributions to that end:

One is that we will continue supporting you rebuild your energy infrastructure, in a smart way. And this morning I went with your energy minister; I saw the destruction brought on you by Russian missiles, and I also learned about how you will protect that energy for Kyiv and the region, in a smart way. We will also help fund storing gas for Ukraine for the coming winter, as we did last year, and we will repeat that this year.

Secondly, we are transferring to Ukraine a number of mine clearance sets, which can be used in the enormous task you have ahead of you of clearing mines from the killing fields in the south and in the east.

Norway takes pride, as you say Mr. President, in supporting Ukrainian lives and infrastructure from the skies. The NASAMS air defence system is Norwegian technology developed with partners. Today, I have been inside the NASAMS infrastructure, to see how your operators use this system, and how it really can help save lives. And I can tell you that we will do whatever we can to convince partners to provide NASAMS they may have to the area in Europe where it is most need, namely in Ukraine, and I can assure you that the production of this advanced system will go on and hopefully will be speeded up.

In the context of air defence, we are donating a contribution of IRIS-T, which is a system that also will allow to protect infrastructure and human lives against drones and missiles.

Finally, Mr. President, based on our dialogue, we have made a decision to donate Norwegian F-16 fighter jets and we are in a discussion now about when and how. When the United States gave a green light to training of pilots and all the infrastructure around, Norway immediately supported that pledge, and Norwegian trainers are taking part with other countries working on this together.

Norway is now moving towards a new system of our own fighter jets. A large portion of the existing F-16s have been transferred to our NATO ally Romania a few years ago, but we are now making two remaining fighter jets available for the training, and we will look into the remaining – they are not many – but they are some that can then be transferred to Ukraine, in dialogue with you, and we do that after the United States again gave the green light last week. This is American technology and we need that green light, and that has been given, we join that alliance.

Thirdly, today we discussed progress on your Peace Formula, Mr. President. Peace for Ukraine will have to happen on the basis on Ukrainian terms, no peace without Ukraine, no discussions without Ukraine, and the Peace Formula we have discussed several times, bilaterally, but also in a Nordic setting, and Norway has been supporting the ten points and we have been looking into some of the areas where we can give a particular support, and today we had input to how we can take that forward. So, my National Security Adviser is joining her colleagues in taking this dialogue forward, and I think this is the right track. And we will prepare for that when we meet also in New York for the United Nations, and we will do it particularly in a Nordic setting ahead of the United Nations.

Finally, Mr. President, on a personal note, you are an inspirational leader, you are taking on you a burden which you did not asked for, you have been positioned at a crossroads in history where drama came to your country – when you were attacked from outside, from the skies, from the sea, in the most brutal way. And no human being can say that this is something we waited for, but the quality of a human being is there at that crossroads, and I want to tell you as Prime Minister, along with many of my colleagues, that we admire that determination, and that determination is also reflecting the extraordinary qualities of the Ukrainian people and their desire to be independent, sovereign and free, so I reiterate that on this visit and I look forward to stay closely in touch for the follow-up. Thank you.