OSLO (Reuters) – NATO member Norway will continue to supply fuel for U.S. Navy ships, the country’s defence minister said on Sunday, after a call from a private marine fuel supplier to stop doing so in response to the apparent breakdown in U.S.-Ukrainian relations.
“We have seen reports raising concerns about support for U.S. Navy vessels in Norway. This is not in line with the Norwegian government’s policy,” Norway’s Defence Minister Tore Sandvik said in a statement.
“American forces will continue to receive the supply and support they require from Norway,” he added.
Sandvik issued his statement after privately held Norwegian fuel supplier Haltbakk Bunkers said that it would stop supplying U.S. Navy ships in response to how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was treated at the White House on Friday.
“Huge credit to the president of Ukraine restraining himself and for keeping calm even though USA put on a backstabbing TV show. It made us sick… No Fuel to Americans!,” the company said in a now deleted Facebook post.
Haltbakk Bunkers CEO Gunnar Gran confirmed to Norwegian newspaper VG that the company made a decision not to supply the U.S. military, but said the move would have a “symbolic” impact as it didn’t have a fixed contract.
The company did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik and Hugh Lawson)
