Norway has made a decision to allocate an additional $600 million to support Ukraine.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced this.

On Tuesday, the political parties represented in the Norwegian parliament supported the government’s proposal to increase support for Ukraine in 2024 by NOK 7 billion – more than $600 million.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said after the meeting that NOK 6 billion of this amount would be spent mainly on air defense and another billion on other assistance.

With these changes, the total amount of Norwegian aid to Ukraine in 2024 will reach NOK 22 billion.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Norway for the decision on Twitter.

“It is very important that most of these funds will be used to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense, which is our highest priority to protect people’s lives. We appreciate Norway’s continued support, understanding of our urgent needs, and readiness to be by our side at a crucial time,” he said.

Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, Head of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, noted that the discussion on the general “framework” of the Norwegian aid program for Ukraine has not yet been completed.

In her opinion, the issue of revising the 5-year budget of the NOK 75 billion support program for Ukraine should be raised now, as there are fewer funds left for the upcoming years than originally planned.

Last week, the Norwegian government reported that in recent months, Norway has provided Ukraine with NOK 1 billion worth of military aid.

During his visit to Kyiv, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide noted that Ukraine and Norway had completed negotiations on a bilateral security agreement and would sign it at Zelensky’s next meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The date of the meeting has not yet been announced.

Norway has recently allocated up to $13.7 million for maintenance in Poland of Leopard 2A4 tanks transferred to Ukraine.