The Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte offered to buy Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems for Ukraine from countries that have them in large quantities, but do not want to provide them to Kyiv.
This is reported by The Guardian.
Rutte said that there is an urgent need for the supply of surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine. He added that he would continue to try to convince the countries "that are sitting on a big pile of Patriot systems" to release them for Ukraine.
"We know that many countries are sitting on a large pile of Patriot systems, but may not be willing to provide them directly. We can buy them, we can deliver them to Ukraine, we have the money. This is extremely important," he said at the summit of EU leaders.
- Two days ago, the Dutch government allocated an additional €4.4 billion from its budget for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the period 2024-2026.
- Last week, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte informed that his country had allocated a billion euros to Ukraine for military aid and another €400 million for reconstruction. This became additional assistance to the obligations within the framework of the bilateral security agreement between the countries.
- The Netherlands actively supports Ukraine, providing military, financial and humanitarian aid. In 2022, according to the government of the Netherlands, a billion euros were allocated only for military aid to Ukraine. It is also one of the three countries that handed over the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. In addition, the Netherlands will transfer 42 F-16 fighters to Ukraine.