Norway and Ukraine to establish closer defence cooperation

‘Enhancing military cooperation benefits both our countries. We are supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom and at the same time integrating Ukrainian experiences on the front line into the development of our own defence. Technology is evolving rapidly in Ukraine, and the Ukrainians are teaching us a lot about modern warfare,’ said Prime Minister Støre.

Strategic partnership

In February, when Mr Støre was visiting Ukraine in connection with the four-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, he announced how Norway’s military support to Ukraine for 2026 is to be targeted. During the visit, Prime Minister Støre and President Zelensky agreed to develop a strategic partnership between the two countries. The two leaders further discussed ways to advance this partnership during their meeting in Oslo on Tuesday.

‘Defence cooperation is to be a mainstay of our strategic partnership, and today we agreed on how to define the ways in which we can share experience and strengthen our joint security in more concrete terms. We will also develop our partnership in other areas, such as energy and emergency preparedness,’ said Mr Støre.

Joint declaration

After the bilateral meeting, Mr Støre and Mr Zelensky signed a joint declaration on strengthening defence and security cooperation. In the declaration, Norway commits, among other things, to supporting drone production in Ukraine, and Ukraine commits to sharing lessons learned, data and other insights with Norway.

‘We will be giving close consideration to how Ukrainian technology and the Ukrainian drone industry can help to strengthen Norway’s defence capability in the long term, and the establishment of Ukrainian drone production in Norway is also essential. We will also be working together to boost production of anti-aircraft systems and ammunition,’ said Prime Minister Støre.

According to the joint declaration, the knowledge that Ukrainian forces have gained on the battlefield will also be useful in further developing Norwegian plans and emergency preparedness measures.

‘We have much to learn from the Ukrainian experience. Currently, Norwegian forces are helping to train Ukrainian soldiers. Now we have agreed that Ukrainian instructors will come to Norway to share their insights with the Norwegian Armed Forces,’ said Mr Støre.

Defence industry

The Norwegian and Ukrainian defence industries are already cooperating closely, and the two leaders want to see more of this.

‘In order to safeguard our common security, it is important for the defence industry to develop new technologies and increase production. We have agreed to make it easier for the Norwegian and Ukrainian defence industries to collaborate more closely,’ said Mr Støre. 

After the bilateral meeting, Mr Støre and Mr Zelensky took part in a working dinner that was also attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik and representatives of the Norwegian defence companies Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Nammo.