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Ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre gave an interview to FRANCE 24. The ongoing conflict has prompted senior Scandinavian defence officials to warn about the threat of war with Russia. Norway is a founding member of NATO, Finland joined the alliance last year and Sweden is in the process of doing so. “I don’t think it is in Russia’s interest to engage war with a NATO country,” the Norwegian premier told FRANCE 24. “But being part of NATO, being part of a collective security, we need to strengthen our capacity,” he conceded.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Støre admitted that there was a “stalemate on the battleground” in Ukraine but insisted on the importance of supporting Kyiv. The recent fall of Avdiivka to Russian forces “should be a wake-up call to make the Ukrainians fit and able to defend themselves”, he said.
Støre added that Norway would agree a bilateral security deal to help Ukraine. Kyiv has already signed similar agreements with France, Germany and the UK.Â
This story originally appeared on France24
