On Saturday, February 28, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha welcomed in Kyiv the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Tom Berendsen, who made his first foreign visit to Ukraine together with the newly appointed Minister of Defense.
Andrii Sybiha noted that the first international visit to Kyiv of two ministers of the new government of the Netherlands is a sign of special respect and support for Ukraine.
The Foreign Minister stated that the Netherlands is one of the leaders in providing military, energy, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The Minister added that the partnership between Ukraine and the Netherlands is strong, consistent and based on common values.
“The new Dutch government has identified international security and the development of partnership with Ukraine as its priorities. We are sincerely grateful that the coalition agreement has recorded long-term support commitments — at least 3 billion euros annually until 2029. This is a significant strengthening of our defense capabilities. It is equally important that the coalition agreement confirmed support for Ukraine’s membership in the EU and NATO. Together, these elements shape the architecture of long-term security not only for Ukraine, but also for the whole of Europe,” the diplomat noted.
The parties separately discussed the energy direction of cooperation between the two countries. Andrii Sybiha thanked for the support and reported that in recent months alone the Netherlands has provided 23 million euros for energy needs, in particular, it transferred 4 large and 19 small transformers, and also allocated 35 million euros mainly to the development of solar energy systems.
“Today is the last day of winter. Tomorrow begins the calendar spring. And this means that the Russian winter terror has been defeated. Moscow once again failed to achieve its aggressive goals, and Ukraine, together with its allies, thwarted the aggressor’s plans. We are grateful to all our partners for this support,” the minister emphasized.
The Foreign Minister noted the large-scale defense support of the Netherlands, which exceeded 14 billion euros, of which almost 10 billion are directly weapons. He thanked them for the prompt transfer of ammunition for Ukrainian air defense.
“The Netherlands is one of the leaders within the framework of the PURL program. Their contribution is 750 million euros. We also agreed to continue successful cooperation in the field of unmanned technologies. These are contracts for 600 thousand drones for a total of 510 million euros and an additional 350 thousand FPV drones for another 300 million. We expect to scale up joint production, in particular within the framework of the Build with Ukraine initiative,” the diplomat noted.
The parties paid special attention to the peace process. Andrii Sybiha informed his colleague about recent meetings and preparations for the next rounds of negotiations.
“Ukraine is committed to peace efforts under the leadership of the United States. Unfortunately, we do not see readiness to end the war on Russia’s part. Therefore, it is important to increase pressure — primarily against the “shadow fleet” and the energy sector. We must deprive Russia of the resources to wage war. In this context, I emphasize: the 20th package of EU sanctions is needed as soon as possible,” the minister stressed.
The parties also extensively discussed the matter of justice. Andrii Sybiha noted the leadership of the Netherlands in this direction and expressed expectations for further support in the creation of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression and the start of its full-fledged work in The Hague — the city of international justice.
In this regard, the ministers raised the issue of ratification of the Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission and agreed to accelerate the practical implementation of all mechanisms for bringing to justice.
Andrii Sybiha expressed deep gratitude to the Netherlands for its comprehensive support for Ukraine.