Together, we can make sure that Russia does not win, and we will do it – President’s speech at the special plenary session of the Storting of Norway

13 December 2023 – 22:01

Churchill was here. So we will win. Because the enemy is the same.

It’s a great honor to be here. Thank you so much for your big support for our people, our country, our men and women, our children. They are very strong because we have such strong friends, Norway, thank you so much!

Mr. Speaker, thank you for your kind words.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Parliament, Mr. Prime Minister, esteemed journalists, and all guests!

Dear people of Norway!

It’s an honor to address the Norwegian Parliament and people for the second time, and now in person. I’m here to personally thank you for the incredible support Norway has given Ukraine. Protecting against aggression is always about saving lives, lives that could be lost to an enemy’s destruction, cruelty, and deportation. And we are saving lives. Together with you. And thanks to you. I thank you, Norway!

I’m reminded of a phrase well-known in Norway that resonates with our feelings, especially on February 24th… Why it wasn’t a triumph of Russian aggression but of the unity of different countries and people for freedom. The phrase goes, “Sure, we were not many / But we were enough”. And it’s so true!

On February 24th and in the early weeks of the full-scale war, there weren’t many leaders or countries who believed that freedom could stand up to Russia. We had less weaponry, a smaller army, but enough courage. And we stood firm! The world eventually understood who we are and who is with us. And Norway did not hesitate and stood with us from the first hours – with your hearts, minds, and aid. There weren’t many at the time, but we were enough to change the world. Enough to make the world believe in the power of freedom and hope for victories in such a cruel war.

Ladies and gentlemen! People of Norway!

I had addressed you for the first time on the 35th day of the full-scale war. Today is the 658th day.

It’s been a colossal way, but we still have a way to go to protect freedom and ensure our people’s and Europe’s security. We need the world’s attention and support now as much as ever. Why? Because while we now have effective weapons, we still lack enough to fight this war on conditions of freedom, not those dictated by the enemy. The world majority now sees Russian aggression as a crime. But Putin has found buddies in Iran and North Korea, receiving weapons that kill our people. Unfortunately, dictatorships supply Russia more regularly than many democracies supply Ukraine. A million artillery shells from Pyongyang to Putin – it’s happening. And I thank everyone in Europe who helps us withstand this pressure and supports us precisely as needed – enough to protect freedom and rules-based world order. We now know how to inflict painful losses on Russia, which might eventually bring them to a sober reality. But…

But it’s the 658th day, and sadly, not everyone can stay focused on defending freedom for so long. Yesterday, I was in the United States. You all know the challenges with supporting our defense here in Europe. The potential weakening or interruption of American leadership in defending the free world inspires dictators at the mere possibility. Putin might enter the new year in high spirits. And it wouldn’t be Ukraine’s fault.

That’s why I’m so grateful to you, Norway. To all our partners in the region.

You’ve maintained your attention on Ukraine, just like at the war’s start. You wish for our victory and care about our people’s fate. You helped us last winter when Russia tried to destroy our energy infrastructure and make Ukrainians freeze to death. And you’re helping us now against new missile attacks. You are doing this without delays.

Russia hasn’t succeeded, and we can continue to prevent their victories. We will do it.

Norway was the first to approve a long-term support program for us, for our families, for Ukraine, setting an example for other nations. Today, in Oslo, we had the Nordic plus Ukraine Summit. I’ve heard that our regional partners’ support is becoming long-term. Huge step. I’m thankful!

And it’s not just about sending the right signal to Moscow – that Ukraine won’t be left unsupported. It’s about the right signal to our people, to our soldiers, everyone in Ukraine fighting and working for freedom. This is important for people’s motivation and not only in Ukraine. The whole world is witnessing – how we fight, what we can do compared what the enemy of freedom can do.

I’m proud of the Ukrainian warriors and our people – brave men and women who have done extraordinary things. Ukraine has reclaimed 50% of the territories Russia took after February 24th. We’ve won the Black Sea, restoring free navigation in our waters – thanks, in particular, to your NASAMS, Harpoons and other support. We are struggling to get the badly needed air defense to control the sky – and to win the sky the way we won the Black Sea. And once the sky is under our control, we will keep regaining our land, step by step the occupied territory… Ukraine defends itself for the same reasons you wouldn’t tolerate the enemy. Ukraine will protect itself because we have the right to live freely, just like all other nations. Ukraine stands firm in this fight not only because of our character but because we, like you, the people of Norway, and all who help us, perceive freedom the same way. The 21st century should not be a time for dictators to triumph. And it won’t be. We must do enough for this!

Anyone who visits Norway immediately sees that life and people are the winners. That’s how your country is organized, with respect for life and people. When you say words they are not hollow. When you give promises you deliver on them. When you see injustice you act. These are the principles that underpin freedom. And if you are brave, maybe it’s not many, but enough to win.

Thank you, Norway! 

Слава Україні!

He also attended a joint press event with the other heads of state in attendance at the Second Ukraine-Northern Europe Summit. Here’s the video of that.

 

For those of you marking Advent on your calendars this season:

13th Day of Ukrainian Advent Calendar

Today, we want to say “Tack!” to our Swedish friends at @ForsvarsdepSv for all the military, political, and economic support provided to Ukraine. Especially, we are grateful for CV-90 IFVs, which are extremely effective in service with the… pic.twitter.com/pqEEF51NT3

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 13, 2023

13th Day of Ukrainian Advent Calendar

Today, we want to say “Tack!” to our Swedish friends at @ForsvarsdepSv for all the military, political, and economic support provided to Ukraine. Especially, we are grateful for CV-90 IFVs, which are extremely effective in service with the Ukrainian army.

Thanks to the СV-90, our soldiers are moving forward, liberating our land, and saving lives. Ukrainians liked the CV-90 so much that in August we concluded an agreement with Sweden on the joint production of CV-90 combat vehicles in 🇺🇦.

More Weapons of Victory are coming soon! Stay tuned for updates.

#StandWithUkraine #UAMoDAdvent

Kyiv:

Putin steps up his winter aerial bombardment campaign.

Ukraine’s Air Force and General Staff say air defenses intercepted 10 Shahed attack drones and 10 Iskander S-400 ballistic missiles targeting Kyiv this morning. But Kyiv authorities reported 51 people, including 6 children, injured from falling debris, and many buildings damaged. pic.twitter.com/ZDfhwwrMst

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) December 13, 2023

Kyiv was targeted with S-400 & Iskander ballistic missiles as reported by General Staff pic.twitter.com/TfCCrIIcon

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) December 13, 2023

President @ZelenskyyUa:
russia attempted to strike Kyiv with 10 ballistic missiles at 3 a.m. this night. All of them were shot down. I am grateful to our Air Defense Forces and partners. I thank all of our services helping the victims of the fallen debris.

We keep working to… pic.twitter.com/nt45P4TTQD

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 13, 2023

President @ZelenskyyUa:
russia attempted to strike Kyiv with 10 ballistic missiles at 3 a.m. this night. All of them were shot down. I am grateful to our Air Defense Forces and partners. I thank all of our services helping the victims of the fallen debris.

We keep working to enhance our capabilities, and we have powerful new agreements. We are working to expedite their implementation.

President Biden and I just agreed to work on increasing the number of air defense systems in Ukraine, and the terrorist state demonstrated how critical this decision is.

Each additional system and missile is vital for Ukraine, our cities, and our people. They are saving lives.

Again, the goal here is to force Ukraine to exhaust its stock of air defense munition given that as of right now and unless something changes, the US will not be able to do any more resupply after the end of 2023.

President Biden stated the new reality out loud:

Biden previously pledged to back Kyiv for “as long as it takes” to defeat Russian forces. But with Republicans still holding up Ukraine aid, he said today: “We’ll continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment as long as we can …” https://t.co/68hIr8HLcN

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) December 13, 2023

As of right now, as long as we can is about two more weeks.

Putin will interpret this as the US just surrendered to the reality he has created. Expect attacks to be increased in the attempt to get the Ukrainians to exhaust their supply of munitions and to destroy weapons systems that will not be replaced.

Which has also led the Biden administration to tell Senator McConnell that they will pay his ransom demands.

Top Biden administration officials were laboring Wednesday to try to reach a last-minute deal for wartime aid for Ukraine by agreeing to Senate Republican demands to bolster U.S.-Mexico border policies.https://t.co/VBuokS9OEN

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) December 14, 2023

The Chicago Tribune has the details: (emphasis mine)

WASHINGTON — Top Biden administration officials were laboring Wednesday to try to reach a last-minute deal for wartime aid for Ukraine by agreeing to Senate Republican demands to bolster U.S.-Mexico border policies, with urgency setting in as Congress prepared to depart Washington with the impasse unresolved.

The White House was racing to lock in a deal in principle with key Senate negotiators, which would allow them to work on the text of legislation through the holiday break, according to two people familiar with the plans who demanded anonymity to discuss them.

As details of the plan emerged, advocates for immigrants and members of President Joe Biden’s own Democratic Party fretted about the policies under discussion. Some demonstrated at the Capitol, warning of a return to the hardline border and immigration policies of the Trump era.

Congress has little time to reach an agreement on Biden’s $110 billion request for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs that Republicans are holding up to demand changes to border policy. While White House officials and key Senate negotiators appeared to be narrowing on a list of priorities to tighten the U.S.-Mexico border and remove some recent migrant arrivals already in the U.S., Senate Republicans said that not enough progress had been made to justify staying in Washington beyond Thursday.

Among the proposals being seriously discussed, according to several people familiar with the private talks, are plans to allow Homeland Security officials to stop migrants from applying for asylum at the U.S. southern border if the number of total crossings exceeds daily capacity of roughly 5,000. Some one-day totals this year have exceeded 10,000.

Also under discussion are proposals to detain people claiming asylum at the border, including families with children, potentially with electronic monitoring systems.

Negotiators are also eyeing ways to allow authorities to quickly remove migrants who have been in the United States for less than two years, even if they are far from the border. But those removals would only extend to people who either have not claimed asylum or were not approved to enter the asylum system, according to one of the people briefed on the negotiations.

The policies resemble ones that President Donald Trump’s Republican administration tried to implement to cut border crossings, but many of them were successfully challenged in court. If Congress were to make them law, it would give immigration advocates very little legal ground to challenge the restrictions for those seeking asylum.

The Senate negotiations had also found some agreement on raising the threshold for people to claim asylum in initial credible fear screenings.

Senate Republicans discussed the White House’s proposal at a lunchtime meeting and expressed some optimism that Biden’s administration was directly involved in shaping the legislation. But many senators said there was simply not enough time to iron out an agreement.

“Nobody’s written anything up. These are all concepts right now,” said Sen. John Thune, the no. 2 Senate Republican, adding, “The deal has not come together.”

Even if the Senate stayed in Washington to pass the proposals, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a Republican, would also need to push the legislation through his chamber, where there will likely be opposition from both parties. Hard-line conservatives complain the Senate proposals do not go far enough, while progressive Democrats and Hispanic lawmakers are opposed to cutting off access to asylum.

At a press conference in front of the Capitol, leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus vowed to oppose the policies under consideration. They also said that Latino lawmakers should have been central to the negotiations.

There are a number of problems here. All of them strategic in nature. The first, and again, is that a better legislative strategy, one that pushed through a longer term supplemental for Ukraine prior to the new Congress being seated in 2023 would have prevented this. That the Biden administration both announced they would wait until the new Congress and actually did so despite the very real possibility that the GOP would retake the majority because they were confident a new Ukraine supplemental would pass the House regardless is a major strategic error. Especially given that the House Republicans were very loudly signaling in mid-2022 that there would be no new supplemental if they retook the majority.

The second major strategic problem here is that the President’s team have once again agreed to pay at least some of Senator McConnell’s ransom. But that is part of two larger problems. The first is that there’s no guarantee that even this could pass the 60 vote cloture threshold in the Senate. The second is that if it does, it is dead on arrival in the House. So it is now reported that the Biden administration has agreed to adopt into law a number of the Trump administration’s hardest line immigration restrictions, but are still unlikely to actually get the Ukraine supplemental passed because even if it does make it through the Senate, it won’t make it through the House. As a result, they’re already taking the negative political hits without any actual upside. Part of the reason even this compromise – Ukraine aid for adopting Stephen Miller written Trump administration immigration reforms – is DOA is that the House Freedom Caucus went after Speaker Johnson very publicly this AM regarding what appears to be the final proposed version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It is now unclear if the regular defense appropriation will even get a vote this week, which was what was expected, let alone pass if it does. The House Freedom Caucus compared Johnson to Boehner in their press release and have signaled that they’ll move to vacate the chair if he moves this fairly clean, compromise NDAA.

There’s a reason that McConnell always wins on these whether he’s the majority or minority leader in the Senate. And that reason is that the Democrats care far more about accomplishing positive things than McConnell does. He knows that if he succeeds and the Democrats pay the ransom he gets what he wants and they get blamed, especially a Democratic president. If he fails to collect the ransom, well he still gets what he wants because whatever the Democratic administration and the Democrats wanted to pass failed to pass the Senate and the Democratic president and the Democrats will still get blamed. He’s had tremendous success with this strategic, which is why he continues to use it.

President Biden is a decent, compassionate person. It is clear he wants to do the right thing here. The problem is he and his team pursued a bad legislative strategy, which, when combined with their overall exceedingly low appetite for risk, has now put Ukraine in a very difficult position. I’m sure if he had it to do all over again and with the benefit of hindsight, he’d have done at least the legislative portion of this differently. Unfortunately, neither he nor the Ukrainians have that luxury.

The EU, on the other hand, has decided if legal bribery will work.

EU to unblock €10bn for Hungary ahead of Ukraine summit, as part of a final push to convince Orbán to lift his veto on a critical support package for Kyiv at a summit later this weekhttps://t.co/MD8tHLyn9n via @ft @paolatamma @mdunai

— Henry Foy (@HenryJFoy) December 13, 2023

We’ll see if that actually works.

Norway steps up:

🇳🇴🇺🇦 Norway is providing Ukraine with additional NASAMS air defense systems valued at NOK 335 million.

The aid package also includes NOK 1 billion in co-financing to strengthen the capacity of the defense industry to produce more ammunition and missiles.

We are grateful to the…

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 13, 2023

🇳🇴🇺🇦 Norway is providing Ukraine with additional NASAMS air defense systems valued at NOK 335 million.

The aid package also includes NOK 1 billion in co-financing to strengthen the capacity of the defense industry to produce more ammunition and missiles.

We are grateful to the Norwegian government and people for the invaluable support they provide to our country!
Together, we will defeat the aggressor.

As does Denmark:

Denmark to unveil another €1,000,000,000 defense package for Ukraine tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/lgdVo26F6j

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) December 13, 2023

And Latvia:

🇺🇦🇱🇻 Drone coalition: I am grateful to the Minister of Defense of Latvia @AndrisSpruds for the initiative to establish a UAV coalition to strengthen the Ukrainian military.

We discussed this during the first visit of Minister Spruds to Kyiv. I’m sure that technological… pic.twitter.com/oh3rBpG95E

— Rustem Umerov (@rustem_umerov) December 12, 2023

🇺🇦🇱🇻 Drone coalition: I am grateful to the Minister of Defense of Latvia @AndrisSpruds for the initiative to establish a UAV coalition to strengthen the Ukrainian military.

We discussed this during the first visit of Minister Spruds to Kyiv. I’m sure that technological superiority is critical on the battlefield.

We also discussed the expansion of the training programs for the Ukrainian military by Latvian instructors, countering russian information attacks, and other projects to strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

I am sincerely grateful to the Latvian government and people for supporting Ukraine since the very first day of russian aggression.

This is good and important, but drones are not going to win the war for Ukraine.

Germany has delivered the second Patriot battery.

https://twitter.com/deaidua/status/1734885070417047750

A spokesperson of the German Luftwaffe just confirmed to me that Germany has indeed delivered the second Patriot battery to #Ukraine.

In October, Chancellor Scholz pledged a second Patriot battery to Ukraine. The training of UA personnel ended early December.

The now delivered system consists of a fire control station, a radar unit, 8 launchers and probably around 60 missiles.

Unless the Biden administration can get a new Ukraine supplemental through, this Patriot battery will run out of munitions and become a stationary target by the middle to end of January.

Regardless, right now Putin is winning and we, as well as our EU and NATO allies are helping him.

In case you’re wondering what this means to the Russians, Julie Davis has that information:

10 Minutes of Hate: Russian lawmakers and leading propagandists explain what Russia wants to do to Ukraine and Ukrainians. https://t.co/xtEytrWANp

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) December 12, 2023

Here’s the full video:

Mariinka, Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:

Remains of the town of Mariinka, the battlefield of Russia’s war for close to 10 years.
Now seized by Russia by nearly 92%.
Population: 0.
This will not be a human settlement again within the scope of the foreseeable future, which is about decades to come.
Nothing but a scorched… pic.twitter.com/4iYX95VWWZ

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) December 13, 2023

Remains of the town of Mariinka, the battlefield of Russia’s war for close to 10 years.
Now seized by Russia by nearly 92%.
Population: 0.
This will not be a human settlement again within the scope of the foreseeable future, which is about decades to come.
Nothing but a scorched wasteland of dust and the howling wind.

Defense of Maryinka, Donetsk region
Video from the soldiers of the 79th Air Assault Brigade

— Мисливець за зорями (@small10space) December 13, 2023

Russian occupied Mariupol:

The people of #Mariupol were "liberated" from a decent life, and the city – from prosperity. Instead of carefree smiles – solid thoughts about survival and a series of humiliations… This is "Russian peace" and it is ugly… – Mariupol City Council.
Mariupol a year ago. 😢 2/3 pic.twitter.com/QPw4zUV2At

— Mariia Kramarenko (@KramarenkoMari3) December 16, 2022

My previous thread about #Mariupol and unbearable conditions people live in for almost 10 months already. #RussiaIsATerroristState https://t.co/AES4R7UW1P

— Mariia Kramarenko (@KramarenkoMari3) December 16, 2022

Pisky, Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:

Brief interview with commander of a Ukrainian company that destroyed a Russian TOS Solntsepyok in Pisky with a kamikaze drone.

59th Brigade. pic.twitter.com/wgdkiEmbcM

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) December 13, 2023

Krynky, left bank of the Dnipro, Russian occupied Kherson Oblast:

Krynky. "Russian World". Heavy gunfire. Date unknown, probably quite recent. pic.twitter.com/6mXIR7YvRG

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) December 13, 2023

Stepove, Avdiivka front:

As the author says – the video shows the Ukrainian M2 Bradley IFV destroying a column of three Russian MT-LBs with infantry, during attempted Russian attack on Stepove, Avdiivka front. https://t.co/059mJcWGsl pic.twitter.com/PZnld5ckFH

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) December 13, 2023

The Russians have claimed credit for the Kyivstar TelCo hack:

Solntsepek activities are believed to be linked to Sandworm, an elite Russian hacker unit under GRU. Sandworm’s distribution of the NotPetya virus caused $10 billion in losses worldwide from a single act of sabotage. pic.twitter.com/ewS0zeCRZK

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) December 13, 2023

 

The war on carbs continues:

See, donuts made us hate our corrupt pro-Kremlin government that tried to derail the nation’s historical rapprochement with the EU after getting a bribe from Russia. pic.twitter.com/1nIMIJBKO4

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) December 13, 2023

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

Let’s go to work, girls! 😍 pic.twitter.com/JWhSezXJlu

— Patron (@PatronDsns) December 13, 2023

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@patron__dsns

Та й таке!🤝🏻 #песпатрон

♬ оригінальний звук – Patron_official

Here’s the machine translation of the caption:

And that’s just it! 🤝🏻 #песпатрон

Open thread!