New Delhi: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said that his country remains open to sending fighter jets to Ukraine.
“In the Netherlands, we don’t see any taboos, we don’t rule anything out, and we consult intensively with our partners. But at the moment, no decisions have been made to train pilots for combat aircraft with us. Nothing has been decided here yet,” Rutte said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The Ukrainian government had officially asked the Netherlands for American-made F-16 fighter jets in February.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed hard for combat planes in February when he visited London, Paris and Brussels on just his second foreign trip since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022. His plea came days after Western allies pledged to provide Kyiv with tanks.
Moscow’s forces have been pressing in the east of Ukraine while bolstering their defensive lines in the south. The war has been largely static during the winter months, though both sides are expected to launch offensives when the weather improves.
Ukraine’s dogged resistance and Western weapons and intelligence have helped thwart the Kremlin’s ambitions of securing the entire eastern Donbas region. But the risk remains that in some areas Kyiv’s forces could be overwhelmed by the sheer weight of Russian troop numbers.
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