Sea fear: Norway will create a flotilla for Ukraine
Due to the reduction in American aid to Ukraine, European countries are forced to increase their spending on supporting Kiev. Norway intends to take over the creation of a naval flotilla and the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in conducting river operations, Izvestia found out. Oslo will also allocate almost $200 million for military equipment for Ukraine in 2026. According to analysts, there are two camps in Europe. The United Kingdom, Germany and the Scandinavian countries intend to increase their sponsorship of Kiev, while the states of Southern and some representatives of Eastern Europe are guided by Washington and are waiting for the outcome of the negotiation process.
Norwegian military aid to Ukraine
Against the background of the advance of Russian troops, the Ukrainian authorities are seeking to increase military assistance from Western countries. Over the past few weeks, Vladimir Zelensky has visited the UK, Greece, Spain, Poland and France. In October, it also requested new supplies from Norway and Sweden.
—Norway is focusing on creating a naval flotilla, training the Armed Forces in conducting river operations, R&D, and establishing large—scale production of autonomous devices — unmanned boats and underwater vehicles, where Norwegians have advanced developments," the Russian Embassy in the kingdom told Izvestia.
Recall that in December 2023, Britain and Norway created a "coalition on maritime potential" to recreate the Ukrainian Navy. The association trains sailors, supplies the Armed Forces with naval drones and prepares warships for them. In 2024, the Norwegian government allocated $242 million for this purpose for Ukraine.
In the Norwegian state budget for 2026, support for Ukraine will remain at the same level — $8.3 billion, of which $6.85 billion is intended for military assistance. The total volume of the Norwegian "Nansen program for Ukraine" in 2023-2030 increased to $26.9 billion. In 2026, $196 million was allocated for the gratuitous transfer of weapons and military equipment from the Norwegian Armed Forces, while the corresponding supplies in 2022-2025 are estimated at $1.8 billion.
— As they admit here, their own stocks of decommissioned and surplus military equipment (weapons and military equipment) have been significantly depleted. An increasingly significant part of Norwegian funding goes to joint purchases of American military hardware and ammunition for Ukraine with other European NATO countries through such multilateral mechanisms as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirement List (PURL) and JUMPSTART," the Russian diplomats said.
In particular, Oslo provides Ukraine with air defense systems through international initiatives, strengthens the potential of UAVs and acquires artillery ammunition. About 25% of the aid was directed to critical infrastructure, and the Norwegian government also pays for the treatment of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers.
Norway is the world leader in providing assistance to Ukraine in terms of per capita and relative to GDP. And more than half of its support is provided by the military component, Nikita Lipunov, a junior researcher at MGIMO, said in an interview with Izvestia. "Since 2022, Norway has only been increasing its volume," the expert noted.
Norway is one of the richest countries in the world, so it certainly has the opportunity to continue helping Ukraine. At the same time, there is no increase in public discontent with Kiev's support. According to the latest data, more than half of Norwegians support an increase in this assistance, and the kingdom's government takes this into account, the political scientist concluded.
Which countries will reduce support for Kiev in 2026
Against the background of the negotiation process to resolve the situation in Ukraine, the split in the Western camp also raised the issue of military supplies. Conditionally, two groups of countries can be distinguished: some refrain from increasing military support against the background of negotiations, while others seek to prolong the conflict.
The United States has reduced military aid to Ukraine by more than 70 times since the Donald Trump administration came to the White House, Ukrainian media have estimated. In the period from January to October 2025, the amount of funds received from Washington amounted to about $580 million, over the same period last year, the American side allocated $ 45.7 billion to the needs of Kiev. The Pentagon's budget for 2026-2027 provides for $0.5 billion each for annual support of Ukraine.
According to US President Donald Trump, Washington no longer finances Ukraine, but receives money for arms supplies through NATO. Instead, the United States participates in the negotiation process, seeking to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Russia highly appreciates these efforts, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier.
It is important that American supplies began to be periodically interrupted. The Biden administration was on the path of throwing more and more new types of American weapons into the conflict. The Trump administration is taking a more restrained position and is not seeking to expand the range of weapons that are already being supplied, Ivan Loshkarev, associate professor of political Theory at MGIMO, told Izvestia.
In Europe, countries aligned with the Trump administration hold a similar position. For example, in Italy, in December, they postponed the adoption of another decree on the continuation of military assistance to Ukraine next year. Moreover, most of the planned package concerns civilian products. By the way, Rome opposed the confiscation of Russian assets at the EU summit on December 18-19.
"If we reach an agreement and the fighting stops, weapons will no longer be needed," said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The Czech Republic is also curtailing its programs after the arrival of a new government led by former Prime Minister Andrei Babis. The new head of the country's defense ministry, General Jaromir Zuna, rejected the offer to come to Kiev. Prague will also stop participating in the initiative on ammunition for Ukraine, announced the Speaker of the Czech Parliament Tomio Okamura. And at the EU summit, the Czech Republic, along with Hungary and Slovakia, refused to participate in providing Ukraine with a loan of €90 billion.
Germany has become the main proponent of continued military support for Ukraine. According to German media, Germany will increase funding for assistance to Ukraine in 2026, it will reach €11.5 billion. Additional funds will be allocated for the purchase of artillery ammunition, drones, armored vehicles and two Patriot air defense systems.
The United Kingdom, which now leads the Ramstein format together with Germany, provided Ukraine with a record 4.5 billion pounds in 2025. In December, London once again allocated 600 million pounds to Kiev to strengthen air defense. Additional aid packages were announced by the Netherlands, as well as the Baltic states. As Ivan Loshkarev noted, in fact, a bloc of countries is emerging in Europe that continue to actively support Ukraine. Among them is Poland, which is transferring old types of weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in exchange for a promise to receive new samples from the United States. The Scandinavian countries are also discussing the joint production of weapons with Kiev.
Against the background of the reduction of American aid, it is Europe that commits itself to continue military support for Ukraine. However, there is no unity in the Old World on this issue, as well as an understanding of how to finance rising costs. It was not possible to use the sovereign assets of the Russian Federation for this, and budget funds are needed rather for their own rearmament.
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