(L-R) Kim Kun-hee, first lady of South Korea; Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's president; Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president; Olena Zelenska, Ukraine's first lady and Christopher Luxon, New Zealand's prime minister, converse during an arrival ceremony prior to a dinner with NATO allies and partners in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 10 July 2024. NATO leaders, who are meeting for a three-day NATO summit in Washington, will send five long-range air-defense systems for Ukraine, after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked for more help in the wake of stepped-up Russian strikes on his country. EPA-EFE/Graeme Sloan / POOLZelenskiy, after speaking on Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump, said a halt on energy strikes in the war could be established quickly, but warned Ukraine would respond in kind if Moscow violated the terms of the limited ceasefire.
Zelenskiy and Trump agreed on Wednesday to work together to end Russia's war with Ukraine, in what the White House described as a "fantastic" one-hour phone call.
Like the other Nordic and Baltic nations, Norway is a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
On March 6 the government said it would more than double its financial support to Kyiv this year, to 85 billion crowns ($8.03 billion) from a plan agreed in November of 35 billion crowns.
"Norway stands with Ukraine," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement on Thursday.
"I look forward to good discussions on how Norway can best support Ukraine in both the short- and long-term."
Jens Stoltenberg, until October NATO's chief and now Norway's finance minister, will have a meeting with Zelenskiy's delegation and together with other Norwegian officials, the prime minister's office said.
Norway is the only European nation that can finance increased support to Ukraine from its own coffers rather than from debt as it is home to the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, with assets of $1.8 trillion.
Norway's wealth fund has seen soaring income from gas sales to Europe as a result of Russia's 2022 Ukraine invasion.
The nation of 5.6 million inhabitants is a member of NATO, but not of the European Union, and shares a border with Russia in the Arctic.
($1 = 10.5804 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
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