Copenhagen, Nov 10 (V7N) – Denmark on Tuesday hosted security talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Nordic leaders, as Copenhagen announced it was donating $720 million in military aid.
The meeting with Nordic leaders took place as Ukrainian and Russian representatives met for US-mediated peace talks in the UAE.
"This is a very special moment. We have negotiations going on right now in Abu Dhabi," Zelensky said during a talk with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the University of Copenhagen.
Zelensky said he had been briefed by his team and that the parties had discussed humanitarian issues and security guarantees during the first day of US-mediated direct negotiations with Russia.
"One priority is humanitarian, how to get back our people," Zelensky said, explaining this concerned both civilians, including children, taken to Russia as well as prisoners of war.
The Ukrainian president met the Danish government, which announced a 4.8-billion-kroner ($720-million) donation in military aid to Ukraine. Another 150 million kroner would be donated to Ukraine's energy sector.
After a lecture for students at the University of Copenhagen, he and Frederiksen were due to meet Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and their Finnish counterpart Petteri Orpo.
The Nordic countries are key supporters of Ukraine and Zelensky travelled to Oslo at the end of October to meet American envoys. After that meeting, Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb had a 90-minute phone call with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, which Frederiksen slammed and said had not been coordinated with Nordic neighbours. Stubb said the talk with Putin had been "frank and substantive."
"Almost five years after the full-scale invasion, the rain of bombs targeting civilians, relief centres, and water and heating plants continues. That is why we must stand firm," Frederiksen said in a statement Tuesday.
There was a large police presence outside the Danish prime minister's office in Copenhagen and helicopters circled overhead, according to an AFP correspondent. Police in the city also announced that they would increase security for coming days, including a ban on the use of drones over the capital until November 12.
