Ukrainian servicemen of the 43rd Artillery Brigade fire with 155mm self-propelled howitzer Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000), towards Russian positions at a front line near Bakhmut, Donetsk region on June 15, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

OSLO/KIEV – Norway and Denmark have agreed to donate an additional 9,000 rounds of artillery to Ukraine after a similar donation earlier this year, Norway's Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.

In a press release, the ministry explained that Norway would provide the artillery shells, while Denmark would contribute fuzes and propellant charges.

With the donations now announced, Norway has donated a total of 27,000 artillery rounds alone, and 17,000 together with Denmark to Ukraine

The ministry said that Norway has also donated an additional 7,000 artillery rounds from its own stocks. These have already been sent to Ukraine.

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With the donations now announced, Norway has donated a total of 27,000 artillery rounds alone, and 17,000 together with Denmark to Ukraine. 

Ukraine eyes fighter jet coalition

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov voiced his hope that the 13th Ramstein meeting will help create a fighter jet coalition for Ukraine, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Thursday.

"I am absolutely sure that we will have a 'Bird Coalition' for the armed forces of Ukraine," Reznikov told reporters after the meeting.

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The partners told Ukraine about the start of the training for Ukrainian pilots and voiced their intent to build the "consortium of fighters" together, Reznikov said.

"It will start with F-16 jets with the Netherlands and Denmark, and will be joined by other countries," he noted.

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The 13th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine in the Ramstein format took place earlier in the day in Brussels, Belgium.