The Netherlands will allocate an additional €300 million to armaments for F-16 fighters, which Ukraine will soon receive.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense writes about this with reference to the statement of Minister Ruben Brekelmans during the NATO summit in Washington.
The new funding is added to the €150 million previously allocated for these needs. Equipment will be purchased directly from the arms industry.
The Ministry of Defense of the country does not disclose which weapons will be purchased for the fighters.
At the same time, the minister emphasized that the new aid is a message to Moscow that NATO allies continue to support Ukraine.
F-16 for Ukraine
The first Western F-16 fighters from Denmark and the Netherlands are "already on their way" to Ukraine. They will join the defense of the sky already this summer.
In total, four countries agreed to transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine: the Netherlands (more than 70 machines, some of which are training), Denmark (19 units), as well as Norway and Belgium, which do not announce the exact number of fighters. Pilots are trained in Great Britain, Denmark, the USA, as well as at a base in Romania.
Some of the F-16 fighter jets transferred to Ukraine by Western partners will be kept at foreign air bases so that they do not become a target for Russian troops.
On July 9, 2024, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, said that Ukraine is very much waiting for F-16 fighters, but the number of these aircraft announced by the allies is not enough. At least 128 F-16s are needed to match the Russians, who use 300 aircraft every day in the war.