Oil-rich Norway donates $7.4 billion in aid to Ukraine

The parliament of oil-rich Norway on Thursday announced that the Scandinavian country is donating 75 billion kroner ($7.4 billion) to Kyiv as part of a five-year support package, making Norway one of the world's biggest donors to war-torn Ukraine.

In a video address to the 169-seat parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Norway for the donation.

The 10 Norwegian party leaders spoke afterward to express their support to the package. Only the socialist Red Party, which has eight seats, opposed the donation, because part of the money was earmarked for weapons.

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The money will be split evenly between military and humanitarian assistance over five years, broken down to 15 billion kroner ($1.5 billion) annually.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre thanked lawmakers for the support and said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year ago was “the first attack in Europe since World War II.”

Gahr Støre said the money was from oil income, and the donation should not affect the Norwegian economy.

“This is money out of Norway that we should not use or would not use in Norway right now" he added.

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Norway is one of Europe's largest fossil-fuel exporters, and the conflict in Ukraine has boosted its revenues. However, Norway has fended off accusations that it's profiting from the war in Ukraine. (AP)