Denmark announced its 32nd aid package for Ukraine worth 4.8 billion kroner in military equipment, about 643 million euros, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Nordic leaders in Copenhagen on Tuesday. The announcement came as direct Ukraine Russia talks under American mediation began in Abu Dhabi, and it was Denmark answer to the question of whether Europe will keep arming Kyiv.
Why it matters
The package is large by Danish standards. Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen announced it after a meeting of the Foreign Policy Committee, and a further 150 million kroner will go to Ukraine energy sector. The money will buy military equipment, and the energy funding will help repair a grid that Russia has spent the autumn trying to destroy. The announcement of the new aid came against the backdrop of Zelenskyy visit to Copenhagen, where Denmark is hosting talks between the Ukrainian president and Nordic leaders.
The meeting itself mattered as much as the money. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen hosted Zelenskyy with the heads of state and government of the Nordic countries, and the agenda covered military support, air defence and the protection of the energy sector. Zelenskyy arrived in Copenhagen on Tuesday, the same day the Abu Dhabi talks opened, in a deliberate show that Kyiv talks to its friends as well as its enemies.
What happens next
The backdrop is a war entering its sixth winter. Russia attacked 10 regions overnight, hitting five major power substations, and Kyiv said 55 people were killed in a frontline village as they queued for humanitarian aid. Denmark aid is a response to that reality: air defence and energy protection are what Ukraine needs most, and they are what the package is meant to buy. The Danish Foreign Minister said the country was planning to donate a further 150 million kroner to Ukraine energy sector, on top of the military equipment.
What happens next will be decided in Abu Dhabi, where the talks run through Wednesday, and in the weeks after, when the equipment starts to arrive. For Denmark, the 32nd package is a statement that support is not fading. For Ukraine, it is one more reason to keep talking while it keeps fighting.
