Photo by Simen Sund / The Royal Court

Crown Prince Haakon has welcomed the Secretary General of the Ukrainian Red Cross at the Oslo Royal Palace for an audience. 

On 25th September, Mr Maksym Dotsenko held a private meeting with the heir to the Norwegian throne in the context of his visit to the Scandinavian country, which is hosting an international summit on humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. 

According to the Royal Palace in Oslo, the two discussed the concrete state of the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine, and the efforts being made by members of the public to be there for each other, mainly through volunteering. 

The Red Cross currently has more than 10,000 volunteers and employees deployed all over Ukraine, in a bid to help as many Ukrainians as possible, especially those who live in conflict areas that have difficulty accessing basic services like water, food supplied, medicine and electricity. 

The number of volunteers sounds enormous, but they are currently aiming to care for a group of 18 million people, which, according to the most recent estimates, are now in need of some form of humanitarian aid. 

The international meeting currently underway in Oslo reunites delegations from the more than 80 countries that have come together to become a group of so-called “donor countries”, providing Ukraine with humanitarian aid, but also military assistance and funds for reconstruction. 

Norway is one of NATO’s 12 founding members, and, through the Organisation, has been involved since the beginning in supporting Ukraine, as it went through an invasion from Russia. 

This meeting in Oslo comes as President Zelenskyy wrapped up a week of visits in North America, where he attended the UN’s General Assembly and met with US President Joe Biden, before traveling to Canada, where he held a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.