Danish Defense Minister visits Ukraine, meets Zelenskyy

During a meeting on 24 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen discussed bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses, focusing on new systems and F-16 pilot training.

byIryna Voichuk

24/10/2023

2 minute read

Credit: Ukraine’s Presidential Office

Danish Defense Minister visits Ukraine, meets Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen on 24 October, Ukraine’s Presidential Office reported. Zelenskyy thanked Denmark for the twelve packages of military assistance it has provided Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. "We highly appreciate this. Of course, our priority during this war is military support. Therefore, I want to thank you first of all for the 12 packages of assistance that strengthen our army on the battlefield," he said. Zelenskyy also highlighted Denmark's sponsorship of the reconstruction of Mykolaiv and its important backing of Ukraine's path to the EU. "We are working on completing all seven recommendations of the European Commission. And we will be very glad if we can start accession negotiations with the EU by the end of this year," the Ukrainian President stated.

Danish PM: “None of us can claim war fatigue while Ukraine continues its tireless fight”

The meeting focused on strengthening Ukraine's skies with new air defense systems. Cooperation within the aviation coalition and training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s that Denmark and other partners plan to provide Ukraine were also discussed. Zelenskyy and Poulsen noted the G7 Joint Declaration of support for Ukraine Ukraine at the NATO Summit in Vilnius. They expressed readiness for Ukraine to begin negotiations with Northern European countries regarding security guarantees. At the end of the meeting, Zelenskyy awarded Poulsen the Order of Merit 1st Degree and Denmark's State Secretary for Security Policy and Operations Kasper Høy-Jensen the Order of Merit 3rd Degree. The officials were honored for their contributions to interstate cooperation and support for Ukraine's sovereignty.