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In Yerevan, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, UATV English reports.
The Head of State thanked Norway for all its support for Ukraine and for its contributions to the PURL initiative totaling nearly $1 billion. The President emphasized that Russia is not stopping its ballistic missile strikes, so the timely funding of PURL is critically important.
The leaders discussed their strategic partnership, primarily cooperation in the defense sector and work on an agreement in the format of the Drone Deal. They also addressed strengthening air defense, co-production projects, and cooperation at the level of the private and public sectors.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefed on the situation on the battlefield. According to him, the occupiers are not achieving success and are therefore forced to constantly adjust their plans.
Particular attention was given to energy support for Ukraine. The President outlined our country’s needs for the coming winter and stressed that Ukraine must enter it prepared. The Head of State thanked Norway and personally Jonas Gahr Støre for the readiness to help.
The President and the Prime Minister also coordinated joint international cooperation for the near term, in particular within the NB8 format.
In Yerevan, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also held a meeting with Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo.
The Head of State thanked Finland for its recent decision to allocate an additional $300 million in defense support for Ukraine. The leaders discussed priority areas of Ukraine’s defense, particularly air defense, that can be strengthened with this package. In particular, they discussed the possibility of directing part of the funds to the PURL initiative.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered Petteri Orpo to strengthen the bilateral partnership by signing an agreement in the format of the Drone Deal. According to the President, Ukraine is ready to share its expertise and strengthen those who have been helping Ukrainians since the very beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. The teams of Ukraine and Finland will work on the details of the agreement.
The parties also discussed international and diplomatic efforts and shared updates on contacts with partners.
They also addressed Ukraine’s European integration. The Prime Minister supported the position that there is now a good window of opportunity to open the negotiating clusters. The President emphasized that our country fully deserves this and thanked Finland for its support.
In addition, the President and the Prime Minister discussed the work of the civil protection shelter coalition. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for accelerating efforts in this area.
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