Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, held talks in Kyiv with his Dutch counterpart, Hanke Bruins Slot.
Dmytro Kuleba expressed his gratitude for the consistent and powerful defence assistance provided to Ukraine by the Dutch government, in particular for the allocation of 2.5 billion euros for 2024.
The Ministers discussed the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and the training of Ukrainian pilots. Dmytro Kuleba noted that the Netherlands is a leader in all of Ukraine’s weapons "coalitions", from artillery and tanks to fighter jets, and has already started the transfer of F-16 aircraft to the training centre in Romania. At the same time, the Netherlands also helps to develop the relevant infrastructure.
"Today, I received an assurance that the commitments made by the Netherlands regarding the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine will be fulfilled. And we are grateful to the Dutch side for that," the Minister emphasized.
The head of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed his gratitude to the government of the Netherlands for a significant contribution to strengthening Ukrainian anti-missile and anti-aircraft defence and for supplying additional missiles and weapons to Ukraine.
The Ministers discussed the preparation for the December meeting of the European Council, at which a decision on the opening of negotiations regarding Ukraine's membership in the EU is expected. In this context, Dmytro Kuleba emphasized that there is an absolute majority in the European Union that supports said decision.
"During the negotiations with my Dutch colleague, I received an assurance that the Netherlands will support the decision to start negotiations with Ukraine and will actively lobby for its adoption," the Minister said.
Dmytro Kuleba thanked the Dutch side for active, practical work on the implementation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula, as well as for the support of the mechanisms of bringing Russia, its leadership and citizens to justice for committed crimes against Ukraine.