The Prime Minister's introduction at a press conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj

As delivered

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome – for the fourth time – on official visit, by President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who I now consider a friend and a partner – to Norway. Since the full-scale invasion, the President has visited Norway four times. I hope I will receive him a fifth, a sixth, a seventh time, but then in times of peace and that Ukraine can enjoy what all Europeans should be able to enjoy; peace and development.

Ukraine remains a key priority for Norwegian foreign policy. And today, we have signed a Joint Declaration on Enhanced Defense and Security Cooperation.

Two months ago, we met in Kyiv. We spent a lot of time together and we made the following observation: Norway is a steadfast supporter of Ukraine's struggle for independence and its right to defend itself. We make important contributions and Ukraine is our first recipient of Norwegian aid.

But this is not a one-way traffic. This is a mutual cooperation. And we agreed to work towards a strategic partnership between Norway and Ukraine – because Ukraine is providing a lot in return.

First of all, Ukraine's struggle is a struggle for key values in our Europe, resisting occupation, resisting aggression, defending democracy and independence.

Secondly, we can learn from the experiences that Ukraine is making in this hard-won fight against the Russian aggression.

And we want to organize this in a framework of strategic cooperation where we can also exchange experiences in the spirit of partnership. It is crucial that we learn from these experiences and can tailor our own armed forces as we are developing our long-term defense planning based on these experiences.

So, Mr. President, dear Volodymyr, today we have been able to discuss – and we will do that later in the evening – on partnership concerning drones development and concerning industrial cooperation. We now have Ukrainian production in Norway and we support production in Ukraine. We are partners on energy cooperation, where Norway has experience to share. And we also cooperate on resilience, on how to draw examples from what a society is exposed to when there is a war like this.

So, these are just some of the areas where we are intensifying cooperation. And with this, I give you the floor and I am very happy that you could make it to Norway on this trip through Europe. We are true partners.