Norway’s defense minister says his country will provide one F-16 fighter jet to Ukraine this fall. Bjorn Arild Gram was speaking to NHK on Wednesday in Tokyo.
Norway has announced it will donate a total of six F-16s to Ukraine this year.
Last month, Ukraine began using F-16 jets provided by the West. But one of them crashed in late August, while defending against a Russian missile attack. Observers suggest a serious impact of the incident as the number of the jets is limited.
Gram said the crash was a tragic incident. But he said it will not affect Norway’s continued support for Ukraine.
The defense minister said his country will donate one F-16 later this fall and five jets by the end of this year.
He said, “I think this will be an important capability for the Ukrainians.”
Gram also referred to Norway’s plan next year to participate in a British carrier group and send a frigate to the Indo-Pacific region for the first time.
He said his country sees it as “an opportunity to cooperate, to be more interoperable with allies and partners in this region.”
Gram said Norway and Japan are both maritime nations. He said the two nations can share experiences and cooperate in a whole range of areas.