Delivery of F-16 fighter jets
Ukrainian President Zelenskyj visits the Netherlands
Volodymyr Zelenskyj (left) meets Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. photo
© Piroschka Van De Wouw/Pool Reuters/AP/dpa
As the war in Ukraine rages on, the Ukrainian President continues to seek Western support. But the Netherlands shouldn’t just be about guns.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now in the country after a visit to Sweden Netherlands arrived for previously unofficially announced talks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The main goal of the trip is the delivery of F-16 fighter jets “to protect our people from Russian terror,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday on the Telegram news channel. “We’re getting stronger,” he said.
The talks are also about preparing a peace summit and bringing the terrorist state to justice, said Zelensky, who was traveling with his wife. The Criminal Court in The Hague had issued an arrest warrant for war crimes against Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who ordered the attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
On Saturday, Selenskyj agreed on further military cooperation with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in the Swedish capital Stockholm. He announced on Sunday that he would “hold talks with other countries that support us so that they can provide us with the necessary equipment to win this war”. In addition to the Netherlands, Denmark had also declared its willingness to deliver the F-16 fighter jet from the USA.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had previously announced that she would visit Skrydstrup Air Force Base this Sunday at 3 p.m. together with Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen and Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The Danish F-16s are stationed there. A coalition led by the two countries formed within NATO in the summer to train Ukrainian pilots to use the F-16. Belgium and Norway are also considered possible suppliers of the US jets.