Norway will provide $242 million to strengthen Ukrainian navy

FILE PHOTO: Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere speaks during a high level meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky/File Photo

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Norway's government said on Monday it will provide 2.7 billion crowns ($242.38 million) to strengthen the Ukrainian navy and help it deter Russian naval forces in the Black Sea.

"It is essential to protect the Ukrainian population and Ukrainian infrastructure from attacks by Russia's Black Sea Fleet," Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement.

"It is also important to protect exports by sea of grain and other products, which generate crucial revenues for Ukraine," he added.

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Essi Lehto)